A 


COMPENDIUM. 


OF 


IRISH  HISTORY. 


BY 

M.  F.  CUSACK, 

AUTHOR  OF  11  THE  ILLUSTRATED  HISTORY  OF  IRELAND,"  "  THE  LIFE  OF 
ST.  PATRICK,  APOSTLE  OF  IRELAND,"  "  SKETCHES  OF  IRISH 
HISTORY,"  ETC.,  ETC. 


BOSTON: 

PUBLISHED  BY  PATRICK  DONAHOE. 


1871. 

825  1 


PREFACE. 


About  a  year  since,  I  agreed  with  one  of  the  most  eminent 
English  Protestant  publishers  to  write  a  Student's  Manual  of  the 
History  of  Ireland  for  the  use  of  schools  and  colleges.  The  work 
is  now  before  the  public,  and  extracts  from  some  of  the  reviews 
of  the  leading  English  and  Irish  papers  will  be  found  appended 
to  the  present  work,  and  will  show  that  the  volume  has  met 
with  an  acceptance  far  beyond  what  I  could  have  expected  from 
those  differing  from  us  in  politics  and  religion.  I  have  now 
been  asked  by  the  well-known  and  respected  publisher,  whose 
imprint  is  on  the  title-page  of  this  volume,  to  write  a  work  of  a 
similar  kind  for  your  grand  old  country  so  entirely  associated  i 
with  ours. 

I  have  complied  with  his  request,  and  have  endeavored  to  pro- 
duce a  volume  which,  I  hope,  will  find  its  way  into  every  educa- 
tional house  on  the  continent  of  America.  Irish  Catholics  who 
do  not  thoroughly  know  their  history  are  unworthy  of  the  an- 
cestry from  which  they  have  sprung.  It  is  not  enough  to  know 
the  battles  fought  and  won,  or  fought  and  lost,  in  the  cause  of 
Irish  independence,  they  should  also  know  the  literary  and  so-  " 
cial  state  of  ancient  and  modern  Ireland.  Of  ancient  Ireland, 
especially,  so  famous  for  its  devotion  to  learning,  and  its 
learned  men, —  so  famous  for  its  schools  of  science  and  the- 
ology. 

No  Irishman  who  knows  the  history  of  his  country  thoroughly 
can  ever  be  ashamed  of  it :  if  he  is,  he  disgraces  himself  and  not 
his  race  —  the  race  remains  the  same,  but  he  has,  unhappily, 
degenerated.  No  doubt  the  shame  of  being  ignorant  of  Irish 
history  rests  mostly  with  those  who  teach  the  young.  In  Ire- 
land, unfortunately,  the  national  history  is  almost  a  forbidden 
subject,  but  there  is  no  excuse  in  America.  To  teach  Irish  his- 

Ji.  &    3  lJ  <LJ  % 


PREFACE. 


tory,  and  to  promote  true  Irish  nationality,  is,  I  would  almost 
say,  a  religious  duty. 

This  may  seem  a  strong  expression ;  but  I  know,  unhappily, 
too  many  instances  in  which  being  ashamed  of  being  Irish,  has 
led  to  being  ashamed  of  being  Catholic.  I  do  not  doubt  that 
many  American  priests,  who  may  honor  me  by  reading  these 
pages,  could  corroborate  my  statements. 

I  regret  to  have  known  several  Irish- American  ladies  who 
told  me  they  knew  Irishmen  who  were  ashamed  of  being  of 
Irish  descent,  but  that  they  were,  as  might  be  expected,  en- 
tirely ignorant  of  Irish  history. 

I  told  these  ladies  they  did  well  to  be  proud  of  their  adopted 
country :  great  are  its  hospitalities  to  the  Irish  race,  in  the  char- 
acter of  its  people,  and  even  in  its  natural  features ;  but  I  told 
them,  also,  that  their  ignorance  of  Irish  history  could  alone 
excuse  their  expressions  of  dislike  to  Ireland  and  everything 
Irish. 

They  had  been  educated  in  an  American  convent,  but  I  am 
happy  to  say  that  I  believe  this  convent  to  be  a  solitary  excep- 
tion—the nuns  were  not  Irish,  and  therefore  they  could  not  be 
expected  to  have  much  sympathy  with  Irish  history.  They  are 
therefore,  excusable,  and  I  know  from  frequent  intercourse 
with  American  convents  and  colleges,  that  the  love  of  Ireland 
burns  as  brightly  in  these  holy  fanes  of  learning  and  piety,  as 
the  love  of  the  religion  to  which  Ireland  has  ever  been  true. 

Still  I  think  it  right  to  urge  strongly  the  necessity,  the  duty, 
of  instructing  youth  in  the  history  of  Ireland,  and  of  incul- 
cating respect  for  nationality,  as  well  as  for  religion.  I  believe 
a  period  is  coming  in  which  both  nationality  and  religion  will 
be  severely  tested. 

I  would  also  press  the  study  of  Irish  history,  as  a  duty,  on 
every  American,  Protestant  or  Catholic.  Historical  ignorance 
is  inexcusable  when  a  man  has  ordinary  intellect,  and  ordinary 
opportunities  of  education.  Ignorance  of  the  history  of  a  great 
people  is  most  inexcusable. 

You  may,  perhaps,  question  my  assertion  that  the  Irish  are, 
or  ever  have  been,  a  great  people,  but  I  hope  to  prove  it. 

A  people  who  have  never  been  subdued,  politically  or  relig- 
iously, through  the  overwhelming  force,  persuasion,  and  moral 
influence  of  a  most  powerful  nation,  which  has  done  its  utmost 
to  subdue  them,  must  surely  be  called  great;  no  candid  person 


PREFACE. 


V 


can  deny  that  the  Irish  nation  have  thus  resisted,  no  matter 
how  averse  their  political  or  religious  opinion  may  be  to  those 
of  the  Irish  Celt.  It  is  only  cowards  or  weak-minded  men 
who  refuse  to  admire  the  valor  or  determination  of  those  from 
whom  they  differ.  Numerically,  also,  I  maintain  that  the  Irish 
are  a  great  people,  because  they  have  extended  themselves 
with  unparalleled  rapidity  over  the  continent  of  America ;  and 
even  in  Australia  and  India  they  form  an  important  element  in 
the  population.  To  be  ignorant  of  the  history  of  such  a  people 
is  an  injustice  to  them,  and  an  injustice  to  any  educated  man. 
To  learn  their  history  from  those  who,  from  interested  motives, 
misrepresent  it,  only  adds  confusion  to  ignorance. 

I  offer,  therefore,  this  work,  the  result  of  many  years'  labor 
in  the  field  of  Irish  literature,  to  the  American  public,  in  the 
hope  that  it  will  be  used  as  a  class-book  in  colleges  and  schools, 
as  a  book  of  reference  in  your  study,  and  as  a  companion  in 
leisure  hours.  M.  F.  CUSACK. 

Kenmare,  Co.  Kerry,  Ireland,  August  24,  1870. 


CONTENTS. 


FIRST  PERIOD.  —  PRE-  CHRISTIAN  A  GE. 
CHAPTER  X. 

PAGE 

Traditionary  Period   1 

CHAPTER  II. 

The  Pagan  Milesian  Kings  of  Ireland   28 

.  CHAPTER  III. 

The  Religion,  Language,  Laws,  Architecture,  Domestic  Customs, 
Food,  Dress,  Occupations,  and  Music  of  the  Pagan  Irish   44 


SECOND,  OR  IRISH  PENTARCHY  PERIOD. 
CHAPTER  IV. 

The  Irish  Pentarchy   57 

CHAPTER  V. 

The  Mission  of  St.  Patrick,  and  the  Introduction  of  Christianity 
into  Ireland....,   63 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Milesian  Christian  Kings  of  the  Pentarchy  Period— Irish  Saints 
and  Missionaries   73 

CHAPTER  VII. 

The  Religion,  Laws,  Architecture,  Dress,  and  Social  Customs  of 
the  Fifth,  Sixth,  and  Seventh  Centuries   91 


CONTENTS. 


vii 


THIRD,  OR  DANISH  PERIOD. 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
First  Raid  of  the  Danish  Pirates,  Etc   109 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Culmination  of  the  Danish  Power  terminating  with  the  Battle  of 
Clontarf   121 

CHAPTER  X. 

Events  Preceding  the  Norman  Invasion   138 

CHAPTER  XI. 

Religion,  Laws,  Architecture,  Dress,  and  Social  Customs  of  the 
Eighth,  Ninth,  Tenth,  and  Eleventh  Centuries   K7 


FOURTH,  OR  NORMAN  PERIOD. 

CHAPTER  XII. 
Invasion  of  Ireland  "by  the  Normans   157 

CHAPTER  XIII. 
The  First  Century  after  the  arrival  of  the  Normans  in  Ireland. ...  178 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

The  Burkes  and  the  Geraldines— Bruce  Invades  Ireland—The 
Statute  of  Kilkenny  and  Its  Effects  ,  ,   205 

CHAPTER  XV. 

The  Statute  of  Kilkenny— Visit  of  Richard  II.  to  Ireland— Wars  of 
the  Roses     225 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

The  Religion,  Laws,  Architecture,  Dress,  and  Social  Customs  of 
the  Norman  Period   243 


viii 


CONTENTS. 


FIFTH  PERIOD.— IRELAND  UNDER  THE  TV- 
DORS  AND  STUARTS. 

CHAPTER  XVII. 
Failure  of  the  Attempt  to  Introduce  the  Reformation  into  Ireland.  255 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 
Revolts  of  the  Irish  Chieftains  during  the  Reign  of  Queen  Eliza- 


beth  277 

CHAPTER  XIX. 
Viceroyalty  of  Essex,  Etc   298 

CHAPTER  XX. 


The  Confederation  of  Kilkenny— The  Banishment  to  Connaught.  311 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

Religion,  Laws,  Customs,  Civilization,  and  Social  State  of  Ire- 
land in  the  Fifteenth,  Sixteenth,  and  Seventeenth  Centuries.  334 


CHAPTER  XXII. 
William  of  Orange  in  Ireland   346 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 
Formation  of  a  Catholic  Association,  Etc   378 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 
The  Legislative  Union  between  Great  Britain  and  Ireland   407 

CHAPTER  XXV. 
Ireland  Since  the  Union  » .  421 


FIRST  PERIOD  —  PRE-CHRISTIAN  AGE. 

FIRST  TABLE  OF  EVENTS. 

FROM  THE  EARLIEST  TRADITIONS  TO  A.D.  428. 


PRINCIPAL  EVENTS. 

TRADITIONS  OF  EARLY  COLONIZATION  —  LANDING  OP  PARTHOLAN 
—  THE  FIVE  INVASIONS  OR  TAKINGS  OP  IRELAND  —  THE 
MILESIAN  KINGS  —  QUEEN  MACHA  —  QUEEN  MEAV  —  THE 
ORIGIN  OF  THE  BOROMEAN  TRIBUTE  —  DEATH  OF  KING 
DATHI,  A.D.  428. 

d) 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


CHAPTER  L 

TRADITIONARY  PERIOD. 

B.  C.  2520  TO  B.  C.  1015. 

Synchronous  Events:  Astronomical  Observations  commenced  at 
Babylon— The  Pelasgi  people  Greece  —  Hieroglyphics  invented 
by  Altides  —  Keign  of  the  Shepherd  Kings  in  Egypt  —  Reign  of 
Ninus  in  Assyria,  and  Conquest  of  Babylon. 

Irish  History  may  be  divided  into  six  great  Periods, 
and  such  division  has  the  advantage  of  facilitating  the 
remembrance  of  facts,  and  of  giving  clear  ideas  of 
periods  of  history  with  their  most  remarkable  events. 

The  First  or  Traditionary  Period  is  full  of  matter  of 
the  highest  possible  interest,  not  merely  to  the  Irish 
Celt,  but  to  all  who  have  the  least  interest  in  ancient 
history,  in  archaeology,  and  in  the  traditions  of  the  past. 
For  many  centuries  the  early  history  of  Ireland  was 
either  ignored  or  treated  with  contempt  by  those  who 
wished  to  prove  that  the  Irish  were,  and  always  had 
been  a  barbarous  people.  While  persuading  them- 
selves, and  trying  to  persuade  others,  that  the  Irish 
Celt  stood  low  in  the  scale  of  civilization,  they  could 
treat  him  as  a  barbarian  or  a  slave.  Contempt  was 
the  natural  consequence,  and  contempt  was  shown,  in 
every  possible  form,  both  to  the  people  and  to.  the 
religion  to  which  they  were  ever  faithful. 

But  the  traditions  of  the  race  remained  engraved  on 
the  hearts  of  the  people  :  long  after  the  race  of  bards 
had  become  extinct,  long  after  the  extinction  of  the 
schools  of  history  and  philosophy  in  which  the  youth 
of  Pagan  times  were  taught,  the  traditions  remained ; 

(3) 


4 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


they  were  scorned  and  questioned ;  the  credulity  of 
those  who  believed  them  was  treated  with  the  bitterest 
contempt :  but,  for  all  that,  our  traditions  were  founded 
on  fact.  Let  it  be  remembered,  that  this  is  no  mere 
conjecture  or  assertion,  but  a  statement  which  can  be 
proved. 

At  the  time  of  the  Danish  invasion  of  Ireland,  special 
raids  were  made  on  every  monument  of  learning.  Mon- 
asteries were  destroyed,  and  the  immense  collection  of 
manuscripts  of  rare  value  which  perished  then,  can  be 
justly  estimated  by  the  few  priceless  treasures  which 
still  remain.  If  what  the  Danes  destroyed  were  still 
extant,  there  is  not  a  nation  on  earth  who  could  have 
boasted  of  equally  magnificent  material  for  its  ancient 
history,  but,  happily,  enough  remains  to  prove  this,  and 
even  with  the  fragments  of  annals  which  are  left,  there 
is  enough  evidence  that  the  traditions  of  the  people 
were  founded  on  fact,  as  indeed  such  traditions  could 
scarcely  fail  to  be. 1 

The  ancient  Irish  names  of  places  as  preserved  still 
by  the  Irish  speaking  people,  who  are  wholly  ignorant 
of  written  tradition,  agree  exactly  with  the  names 
given  in  these  venerable  records  of  the  past.  Perhaps 
a  stronger  evidence  of  the  truth  of  any  tradition,  either 
oral  or  written,  could  not  be  obtained. 

The  sites  where  great  battles  took  place,  where 
famous  warriors  were  buried,  where  a  great  plague  dec- 
imated the  population,  are  still  shown,  and  the  very 
names  of  these  sites  actually  commemorate  the  events. 
Thus  there  is  a  small  village  near  Dublin  called  Tal- 
laght  (Talla) :  the  name  means  a  place  where  a  number 
of  people  died  of  plague,  and  were  interred  together, — 
in  fact,  the  "pit  of  the  dead  from  plague. "  Now  the 
Annals  of  the  Four  Masters  inform  us  that  nine  thou 
sand  of  Partholan's  people  died  here  in  one  week,  and 
were  interred  together.  Surely  no  ancient  people  can 
furnish  correspondence  between  tradition  and  history 
at  all  approaching  to  this.  But  the  value  and  import- 
ance of  the  Traditionary  Period  of  Irish  History  is 

1  A  fac-simile  page  of  two  of  our  most  ancient  manuscripts  will  be 
found  in  the  Illustrated  History  of  Ireland,  by  the  author  of  this  work, 
at  page  44.  The  work  should  be  read  after  the  Compendium  in  the 
nigher  classes  at  colleges  and  schools. 


THE  PENTARCHY  PERIOD. 


5 


by  no  means  confined  to  historical  facts.  A  volume 
might  be  written  on  the  remains  of  art  which  still 
exist,  to  show  the  civilization  and  learning  of  the 
ancient  Irish.  Such  a  volume  would  be  of  world-wide 
interest,  and,  undoubtedly,  would  contribute  eminently 
to  establish  the  claim  of  the  early  inhabitants  of  Ire- 
land to  a  high  degree  of  culture. 

The  poetry,  the  customs,  and,  above  all,  the  laws  of 
the  Traditionary  Period  of  our  History,  are  each  sub- 
jects of  the  highest  interest,  and  as  yet  have  never 
been  treated  in  detail,  or  with  the  ability  and  masterly 
knowledge  which  should  be  brought  to  such  a  task. 
The  limits  of  the  present  volume  will  not  permit  an 
expansion  of  these  subjects,  but  a  brief  outline  is  given 
of  each. 

The  Second  or  Irish  Pentarchy  Period  has  also  its 
own  special  interest.  It  was  the  period  of  Ireland's 
greatest  glory.  The  Milesian  Kings,  who  ruled  before 
the  Danish  invasion,  were  amongst  her  most  famous 
heroes  ;  and  even  the  most  sceptical  or  the  most  preju- 
diced writers  have  not  dared  to  question  the  authentic- 
ity of  the  principal  records  of  this  age.  As  the  most 
famous  hero  therein,  we  have  the  brave  and  renowned 
Nial  of  the  Nine  Hostages,  whose  eldest  son  succeeded 
his  uncle  Dathi  as  Ard-Righ  or  chief  monarch  of  Ire- 
land, and  whose  reign  is  rendered  still  more  memo- 
rable by  the  advent  of  the  great  Apostle  St.  Patrick. 

Under  Dathi,  expeditions  were  formed  and  carried 
out  to  plunder  in  Gaul,  and  the  Irish  were  as  well 
known  by  their  military  prowess  in  this  age,  as  they 
were  by  their  religious  zeal  in  the  succeeding  century. 

The  conversion  of  Ireland  was  indeed  the  great  event 
of  the  Pentarchy  Period  ;  and  Ireland  was  converted  by 
the  most  famous  saint  of  ancient  or  modern  times. 
His  name  is  venerated  not  only  in  Ireland,  but  in 
almost  every  part  of  the  Continent  of  Europe  ;  and  with 
the  exodus  of  the  race  who  owe  so  much  to  his  zeal, 
and  who  will  be  his  eternal  crown,  his  name  has  become 
equally  familiar  in  America  and  Australia.  If  there 
were  other  continents  for  this  nation  to  people,  they 
would  take  with  them  also  the  memory  and  the  venera- 
tion of  their  glorious  Apostle. 


6 


COMPENDIUM  OP  IRISH  HISTORY. 


The  history  of  this  period  is  also  of  special  import- 
ance, as  it  was  during  the  time  of  the  Irish  Pentarchy 
that  the  code  known  as  the  Brehon  Laws  was  compiled. 
The  whole  subject  is  one  which  would  merit  the  careful 
consideration  of  the  reader.  The  Brehon  Laws,  or,  at 
least,  a  considerable  portion  of  these  laws  have  been 
published,  with  some  few  notes  and  a  translation,  by  order 
of  the  English  government.  It  is,  perhaps,  one  of  the 
most  significant  signs  which  have  been  given  within 
the  few  last  years,  that  Ireland  is  rising  even  in  the 
estimation  of  those  who  once  despised  her. 

It  would  be  impossible  even  for  the  most  prejudiced 
mind  to  study  these  laws  without  admiring  the  forensic 
ability,  the  clear  idea  of  justice,  and  its  duties  towards 
the  unprotected  contained  therein.  "When  it  is  remem- 
bered that  this  code  had  been  promulgated  orally  for 
centuries  before  its  embodiment  in  its  present  form, 
and  that  this  embodiment  took  place  certainly  in  the 
reign  of  Laeghaire,  we  can  scarcely  form  too  high  an 
idea  of  the  national  advancement. 

It  has  been  well  observed,  that  ignorance  is  the 
parent  of  prejudice  ;  and  it  may  be  remarked,  that  Irish- 
men who  are  ashamed  of  their  nationality,  or  mem- 
bers of  other  nations  who  despise  that  nationality,  are 
equally  influenced  by  ignorance, — not  a  matter  to  their 
own  credit  certainly.  But  there-  is  another  matter  to 
be  considered :  as  eternal  interests  are  very  much 
more  important  than  temporal,  this  period  affords  a 
special  subject  for  national  congratulation.  It  has  not 
been  denied  that  the  Irish  people  received  the  Gospel, 
and  were  converted  with  a  rapidity  and  completeness 
unparalleled  in  the  history  of  nations ;  and  that  the 
Continent  of  Europe  at  this  very  moment  affords  evi- 
dence of  their  missionary  zeal  and  their  success.  In 
Germany,  in  France,  in  Italy,  in  Belgium,  Irish  priests 
were  the  founders  of  some  of  the  most  famous  mon- 
asteries, and  their  memory  is  still  revered  and  their 
nationality  remembered.  The  Irish  priests  of  that  age 
did  simply  what  the  Irish  priests  of  to-day  are  doing; 
for,  at  the  present  day,  there  is  scarcely  a  place  where 
the  English  tongue  is  spoken  in  which  you  cannot  find 
an  Irish  Ecclesiastic  doing  his  Master's  work,  and  ob- 


THE  DANISH  PERIOD, 


1 


taining  in  return  only  the  mere  necessaries  of  life, —  so, 
when  the  English  tongue  was  as  yet  unformed,  the 
Irish  priests  were  doing  the  same  work,  with  the  same 
disinterestedness,  in  every  part  of  Europe. 

This  age,  too,  is  remarkable  for  the  voyage  of  St. 
Brendan,  one  of  the  most  famous  incidents  of  that  or  of 
any  age.  It  may  be  that  he  saw  in  spirit,  when  he  vis- 
ited the  great  and  noble  land  across  the  wild  Atlantic, 
the  vast  multitude  of  Irish  Celts  who  should  one  day 
find  their  home  and  their  prosperity  in  that  glorious 
country. 

The  Third  or  Danish  Period  is  one  of  momentous 
importance,  and  should  be  carefully  studied  by  all  who 
would  undertake  to  legislate  for  or  govern  the  Irish 
people.  For  every  Irishman,  also,  it  contains  lessons 
which,  if  only  carefully  understood,  might  save  no  little 
misery  in  the  future,  and  tend  to  the  general  good. 

The  prosperity  of  Ireland  had  reached  its  culminating 
point  when  the  Northern  Yikings  came  rushing  down 
from  their  frozen  seas  in  all  the  rude  vigor  of  barbarian 
power.  Unquestionably  the  Irish  ought  to  have  been 
able  to  meet  them ;  but  the  nation,  though  prosperous, 
was  divided ;  and  when  did  a  divided  people  ever 
obtain  any  advantage  politically  or  socially  ?  or  when 
did  they  ever  successfully  resist  foreign  invasion  ?  No 
amount  of  personal  bravery  could  avail  where  combined 
action  was  pre-eminently  necessary. 

The  only  successful  attempts  at  freeing  the  country 
from  the  invaders,  were  made  when  some  kind  of  com- 
bination was  entered  into  between  the  petty  kings. 
But  there  was  no  firm  basis  of  custom  or  right  to  sup- 
port these  combinations.  They  were  broken,  without 
hesitation,  at  the  caprice  or  convenience  of  individuals, 
and,  as  a  matter  of  course,  the  Danes  became  masters 
of  the  country.  Temporary  successes  only  proved 
what  might  have  been  won  by  mutual  resistance  ;  but 
even  these  temporary  successes  served  only  to  excite 
the  enemy  to  new  attempts  on  a  larger  scale. 

This  period  of  our  history  closes  with  the  battle  of 
Clontarf,  the  most  famous  of  our  national  events  ;  and 
here  again  disunion  in  action  and  council  had  nearly 
proved  fatal  to  the  Irish  cause. 


8 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


Malachy  and  Brian  Boru  had  long  been  enemies.  It 
is  quite  impossible  to  attribute  the  blame  to  one  side 
more  than  to  the  other.  The  political  divisions  and 
disunions  of  the  early  Irish  were  the  normal  state  of 
things  ;  no  one  could  exactly  be  blamed  for  their  contin- 
uance, except  in  particular  instances,  as  their  origin  lies 
far  back  in  the  unknown  ages  of  the  past.  While  this 
state  of  things  existed,  and  existed  as  a  national  insti- 
tution, there  was  always  the  temptation,  and  hence 
always  the  danger  that  in  a  supreme  moment  a  fatal 
dissension  might  arise.  It  was  so  when  all  Ireland 
was  summoned  for  a  last  effort  to  expel  the  Danes. 
Whoever  was  to  blame,  there  was  not  that  perfect  union 
of  purpose  between  Malachy  and  Brian  Boru,  the  two 
great  leaders  of  the  people,  which  should  have  secured 
something  more  than  a  mere  victory,  however  glorious. 
Malachy,  though  personally  brave,  was  intellectually 
incompetent ;  and  such  persons  are  generally  the  most 
unwilling  to  place  themselves  under  the  leadership  of 
another.  The  battle  was  fought  and  won,  notwithstand- 
ing the  disadvantages  of  the  situation  ;  but  the  results 
were  of  little  value  in  consequence  of  the  situation. 
This  is  a  point  of  view  which  demands  careful  consider- 
ation. Ireland  was  saved  from  the  Danish  power,  but 
it  was  not  prepared  to  resist  another  and  more  system- 
atically conducted  invasion. 

Personal  valor  won  the  battle  of  Clontarf,  and  drove 
the  Vikings  from  our  seas  forever ;  but  it  needed  more 
than  personal  valor  to  preserve  the  independence  of 
the  Island.  Malachy  succeeded  Brian  Boru,  but  his 
inefficiency  was  more  and  more  manifested.  The  cen- 
tury which  witnessed  the  Norman  invasion  was  one 
national  scene  of  struggling  for  power,  and,  conse- 
quently, of  national  divisions. 

The  Fourth  or  Norman  Period  of  Irish  history  was 
but  a  continuation  of  this  state  of  affairs,  with  the  ad- 
ditional disadvantage  of  contention  with  an  invading 
force,  which,  though  small,  was  efficient,  and  whose 
commanders  availed  themselves  most  skilfully  of  the 
national  divisions. 

If  the  Island  had  been  united  under  one  competent 
head,  the  history  of  this  period  would  bear  a  very 
different  character.    But  the  Normans  on  landing  in 


THE  NORMAN  PERIOD. 


9 


Ireland  found  no  real  authority  except  such  as  was 
exercised  independently  by  petty  chieftains,  who  were 
ready  at  any  moment  to  prey  upon  each  other  rather 
than  upon  the  common  foe.  There  was,  in  fact,  a  divi- 
sion of  interest  rather  than  a  division  of  nationality  ;  but 
the  two  feelings  should  have  been  separated  from  each 
other. 

The  circumstances  which  immediately  preceded  and 
followed  the  Norman  invasion  are  of  marked  import- 
ance, and  should  be  most  carefully  studied ;  and  it  is 
not  a  little  remarkable,  that  an  individual  violation  of 
the  laws  of  the  Church  was  the  immediate' and  unques- 
tionable cause  of  the  loss  of  national  prestige  and 
importance  :  while  it  is  equally  observable,  that  the 
national  adherence  to  the  Catholic  Faith  is  the  real 
reason  why  Ireland  has  never  been  amalgamated  with 
England, — why  she  still  claims  an  independent  position, 
and  is  looked  upon  by  Continental  nations  as  a  distinct 
though  oppressed  nationality. 

Dermot,  the  betrayer  of  his  country,  crowned  his 
career  of  infamy  by  an  act  of  sacrilege  at  which  even 
the  most  dissolute  men  of  the  age  stood  aghast  with 
horror.  Soon  after  his  inauguration  as  king  of  Lein- 
ster,  he  attacked  the  world-famous  Monastery  of  Kil- 
dare,  and  dragged  the  Abbess  from  her  peaceful  and 
cloistered  home.  The  people  of  the  town,  true  to  the 
national  devotion  to  the  faith,  and  to  those  whose 
lives  were  all  given  to  Heaven,  rallied  round  the  spouse 
of  Christ,  but  in  vain ;  they  could  not  resist  the  bar- 
barous soldiers  of  a  lawless  prince,  and  he  was  left 
to  the  judgment  of  God,  having  escaped  the  judg- 
ment of  men.  Even  should  the  historical  student  fail 
to  remark  that  a  course  of  national  crime  is  generally 
inaugurated  by  a  course  of  impiety,  the  man  who 
begins  by  being  a  traitor  to  his  God  and  his  faith,  gen- 
erally ends  by  being  a  traitor  to  his  country  and  his 
principles. 

MacMurrough's  next  exploit  was  cruelty  to  some  of 
his  own  nobles ;  but  the  crime  which  rilled  the  measure 
of  his  iniquity  was  the  abduction  of  Dervorgil,  the  wife 
of  Tiernan  O'Rourke.  The  man  who  failed  to  respect  a 
religious,  was  not  very  likely  to  respect  a  wife.  The 
unfortunate  woman  was  treated  barbarously  by  her 


10 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


paramour;  but  we  may  hope  she  repented  truly  her 
crime  in  the  cloistered  retreat  which  she  eventually 
sought.  Dermot  terminated  his  career  by  betraying 
his  country —  an  end  worthy  of  his  infamy.  His  object 
now,  as  from  the  beginning,  was  purely  selfish ;  but  he 
obtained  the  reward  of  his  treachery,  and  the  traitor's 
end.  Deserted  by  all  for  his  crimes,  and,  most  of  all, 
deserted  by  those  whose  alliance  he  had  treacherously 
sought,  he  died  a  death  of  misery  and  utter  degrada- 
tion. 

It  is,  perhaps,  scarcely  necessary  to  draw  the  atten- 
tion of  the  reader  to  the  Norman  Period  in  greater 
detail;  but  each  portion  of  this  period  will  repay 
consideration. 

The  Fifth  or  Tudor  and  Stuart  Period  contains  the 
most  important  lessons,  both  political  and  religious. 
When  Henry  VIII.  ascended  the  English  throne,  and 
attempted  by  mere  force  of  arms  to  Protestantise  Ire- 
land, English  power  in  that  country  still  held  on  by  a 
most  precarious  tenure.  Whether  England  should  rule 
Ireland,  or  leave  Ireland  to  herself,  was  a  question 
which  hung  in  the  balance.  A  little  touch,  if  a  wise 
one,  either  way  might  decide  the  matter.  Many  of 
the  Irish  nobles  had  already  intermarried  with  or  in 
some  way  bound  themselves  to  the  Norman  nobles. 
Hence  there  was  some  English  influence  at  work  even 
amongst  the  national  chieftains.  But  this  influence 
was  not  important,  and  one  day,  nay,  one  hour  might 
convert  the  most  devoted  ally  of  the  Tudors  into  their 
most  implacable  enemy.  The  long  continuance  of  this 
abnormal  state  of  things  was,  perhaps,  what  told  most 
in  favor  of  England.  But  an  event  was  at  hand  which 
changed  dynasties,  and  has  ever  since  maintained  the 
most  powerful  influence  on  the  whole  of  Christendom. 

Henry  VIII.  began  his  career  of  iniquity  by  sins 
against  the  commands  of  the  Church.  It  has  been  the 
usual  course  of  apostates  in  all  ages,  and  yet,  strangely 
enough,  this  invariable  feature  in  their  apostasy  has 
scarcely  been  noticed  as  it  deserves.  The  descent 
down  the  path  of  ruin  was  swift  and  easy.  The  Eng- 
lish nation  followed  their  monarch  with  some  rare  and 
honorable  exceptions.  The  question  of  the  period  for 
Ireland  was,  What  Ireland  would  do  ?    We  all  know 


THE  UNION  PERIOD. 


11 


at  least  the  outline  of  her  grand  and  successful  re- 
sistance ;  but  all  do  not  see  how  much  her  distinct 
nationality  depended  upon  the  resistance.  A  Prot- 
estant Ireland  would  have  ceased  to  be  a  patriotic 
Ireland.  If  the  Irish  of  the  sixteenth  century  had 
accepted  the  so-called  Reformation  at  the  hand  of  a 
king  who,  of  all  monarchs,  most  pre-eminently  needed 
reformation  himself,  she  would  have  gradually  but 
surely  united  herself  with,  or  would  have  been  absorbed 
into  England,  and  would  no  longer  have  been  known  or 
honored  by  continental  nations  as  a  people  who  main- 
tained independence  of  spirit  and  character  under  the 
chains  of  the  most  cruel  oppression. 

It  has  been  said,  indeed,  that  the  hatred  which  the 
Celt  entertained  for  the  Norman  noble, —  a  hatred  en- 
gendered by  injustice, — was  a  powerful  motive  in  pre- 
venting him  from  accepting  the  religion  of  his  master. 
We  doubt  this  assertion, —  more,  we  absolutely  despise 
it,  for  the  facts  of  modern  history  have  proved  it  to  be 
untrue. 

In  the  famine  year,  every  possible  inducement  was 
held  out  to  the  nation  to  forsake  the  old  faith,  and 
superadded  to  the  inducement  were  the  pangs  of 
starvation,  of  the  dire  and  dreadful  death  from  famine, 
which  few,  indeed,  even  of  the  bravest,  could  meet 
unmoved.  A  word  in  many  cases  would  have  served 
the  sufferer,  but  the  sufferer  preferred  the  old  Faith, 
and  the  martyr's  reward.  And  in  cases  where  the  ter- 
rible pressure  of  disease  and  the  approach  of  d^ath 
compelled  all  but  the  most  heroic  to  yield,  what  was  the 
result  ?  A  few  weeks  passed  away,  and  the  so-called 
converts  proved  that  they  would  have  acted  as  their 
forefathers  had  done,  when  tempted  and  hunted  by  the 
English  monarch. 

Let  us  not  fail,  then,  in  studying  this  period  of  our 
history,  to  see  that  fidelity  to  our  faith,  though  it  may 
bring  some  temporal  suffering,  is  very  far  from  bringing 
any  national  calamity. 

The  Last  or  Union  Period  of  Irish  history  contains 
also  much  which  requires  careful  consideration.  It 
may,  indeed,  be  said  to  be  the  history  of  our  own  times, 
for  the  effects  of  the  Union  could  not  possibly  be  ascer- 
tained for  some  years  after  it  was  carried  out.  The 


12 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


plan,  certainly,  has  had  a  fair  and  impartial  trial ;  every- 
thing that  could  be  done  by  England  for  Irish  pros- 
perity, we  must  suppose,  has  been  done :  the  result 
certainly  has  not  been  promising.  We  must  leave  it  to 
a  future  historian  to  say  what  the  effect  shall  be  of  the 
Disestablishment  of  the  Irish  Church,  and  of  the  New 
Land  Bill.  But,  whatever  may  be  the  future  of  Ireland, 
it  is  absolutely  incumbent  on  all  her  sons,  on  all  the 
descendants  of  her  children  and  on  all  who  have  the 
least  interest  in  one  of  the  most  remarkable  nationalities 
extant,  to  study  her  past  history,  that  they  may  know 
how  best  to  forward  her  future  interests. 

The  written  materials  for  pre-Christian  Irish  history 
may  be  divided  into  two  classes, —  the  manuscripts  still 
in  existence,  many  of  which  are  compiled  from  much 
older  sources;  and,  secondly,  the  extracts  in  these 
manuscripts  from  the  lost  books,  some  of  which  were 
older  and  some  coeval  with  those  still  preserved.  As 
a  full  list  of  these  works  is  given  in  the  Appendix,  it 
will  only  be  necessary  here  to  call  the  attention  of  the 
student  to  a  few  of  the  more  important.  Some  of  these 
manuscripts  are  at  present  in  the  library  of  Trinity 
College,  Dublin ;  the  remainder  are  in  the  library  of 
the  Royal  Irish  Academy,  and  in  continental  libraries. 
The  principal  historical  documents  now  in  existence 
are  :  the  "  Annals  of  Tighernach  "  (Teernah),  abbot  of 
the  monasteries  of  Clonmacnois  and  Roscommon,  who 
died  a.  d.  1088 ;  he  compiled  his  annals  with  great 
care  and  much  erudition,  from  the  manuscripts  in  his 
monastery,  which  had  been  transmitted  for  several 
previous  centuries.  The  "  Annals  of  Inis  Fah-len," 
compiled  in  the  monastery  of  Insfallen,  which  was 
founded  in  the  sixth  century ;  these  annals  are  contin- 
ued down  to  the  year  1215.  The  "  Annals  of  Boyle," 
compiled  at  the  monastery  of  Boyle ;  a  number  of 
writers  contributed  to  this  compilation.  The  ' 'Annals 
of  Shanat  MacManus,"  commonly  called  the  ''Annals  of 
Ulster,"  compiled  in  the  year  1498,  and  continued 
down  to  the  year  1604;  these  annals  commence  a.  d. 
43 i.  The  comparatively  modern  "  Annals  of  the  Pour 
Masters  "  are  published  in  seven  quarto  volumes,  and 
are  compiled  from  ancient  manuscripts,  many  of  which 
are  not  now  in  existence.     The  "  Chronicum  Scoto- 


TRADITIONARY  HISTORY. 


13 


rum  99  is  also  comparatively  modern  ;  it  was  compiled 
by  Duald  MacFirbis  a.  d.  1650 ;  but  MacFirbis  also 
used  manuscripts  of  great  antiquity  which  cannot 
now  be  discovered. 

The  most  important  of  the  lost  books  are,  the  "  Sal- 
tair  of  Tara,"  referred  to  by  an  Irish  writer  of  the 
tenth  century  ;  this  work  is  supposed  to  have  been 
compiled  by  Cormac  MacArt,  a.  d.  266.  The  "Kin 
Droma  Snechta,"  quoted  by  Keating,  the  historian,  as 
being  also  called  the  "  Book  of  the  Invasions  of  Erin," 
and  supposed  by  the  great  Celtic  scholar  O'Curry  to 
have  been  compiled  before  a.  d.  500.  The  great  law 
book,  "  Senchus  Mor,"  still  exists,  and  has  been  lately 
printed  with  a  translation;  it  will  be  fully  described 
under  the  Section  referring  to  the  laws  of  ancient  Erin  ; 
this  book  was  compiled  in  the  fifth  century. 

A  period  comprising  many  centuries  precedes  the 
five  great  invasions  of  Ireland,  the  accounts  of  which, 
though  purely  traditionary,  are,  nevertheless,  so  gen- 
erally and  uniformly  recorded  in  all  the  Bardic  annals 
of  ancient  Erin,  as  to  render  it  necessary  that  they 
should  be  mentioned  here.  According  to  the  Bardic  * ' 
traditions,  Erin  was  peopled  before  the  flood  by  Kesar, 
the  granddaughter  of  Noah.  But  this  statement  is 
generally  qualified  with  the  addition  that  it  is  an 
improbable  tale.  The  "Annals  of  the  Four  Masters," 
and  other  most  respectable  authorities,  record  this 
legend.  The  supposed  site  of  Kesar's  tomb  is  also 
mentioned.  The  next  traditional  invasion  is  that  of 
Partholan  ;  he  is  said  to  have  landed  at  Inver  Scene,  in 
the  Kenmare  river,  with  a  thousand  followers  ;  and  it 
is  averred  that  he  came  from  Greece.  The  Four  Mas- 
ters enter  his  arrival  a.  m.  2520  ;  they  also  say  that  he 
was  accompanied  by  his  three  sons  and  their  wives. 
The  "Annals  of  Clonmacnoise "  synchronize  the  ac- 
count of  Partholan  with  the  twenty-first  year  of  the 
patriarch  Abraham,  and  the  twelfth  year  of*  the  reign 
of  Semiramis,  Empress  of  Assyria. 

According  to  the  "  Annals,"  Partholan's  people 
employed  themselves  actively  in  clearing  plains,  and 
cutting  down  the  tall  pine  forests  with  which  Ireland 
was  then  covered.  Partholan  died  a.  m.  2550,  at  a 
place  called  the  old  plain  of  the  flocks  of  Edar.  His 


14 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


son  Slainge  died  before  hhn,  and  his  cairn  is  still  shown 
on  the  summit  of  Slieve  Drewe,  where  it  forms  a  con- 
spicuous object.  It  is,  undoubtedly,  a  memorial  to 
some  ancient  hero,  though  the  individual  to  whose 
honor  tradition  has  assigned  it  may  never  have  existed. 
The  mountain  also  bore  the  traditional  name  of  the  old- 
world  chieftain  for  many  centuries,  until  the  erection 
of  a  monastery  by  St.  Domangart,  when  it  obtained  the 
name  of  Slieve  Donard,  which  it  still  bears. 

It  is  said  that  Partholan's  colony  was  destroyed  by 
plague  a.  m.  2820,  after  they  had  been  three  hundred 
years  in  Ireland.  According  to  the  legendary  accounts, 
nine  thousand  persons  died  of  this  epidemic  in  one 
week.  The  plague- destroyed  race  were  buried  in  a 
common  grave  at  a  place  now  called  Tallaght,  near 
Dublin.  The  name  Tallaght  signifies  a  place  where  a 
number  of  persons  who  had  died  of  plague  were  buried 
together.  Some  very  ancient  tumuli  are  still  to  be  seen 
there,  which,  with  the  name,  has  been  taken  in  evidence 
of  the  tradition,  by  some  writers. 

The  Irish  annalists  agree  in  claiming  a  descent  from 
the  Scythians  for  the  Irish  Celts,  and  say  that  they  are 
descended  from  Magog,  the  son  of  Japhet,  the  son  of 
Noah.  Josephus  says  that  Magog  led  out  a  colony 
which  from  him  were  named  Magoges,  but  by  the 
Greeks  Scythians.  Keating,  the  Irish  historian  of  the 
sixteenth  century,  writing  from  ancient  records,  indi- 
cates the  precise  tribe  of  Scythians  from  which  they 
claim  descent.  He  says  it  is  from  a  tribe  who  had 
established  themselves  in  remote  ages  on  the  borders 
of  the  Red  Sea,  at  the  town  of  Chiroth.  Rabbi  Simons, 
writing  b.  c.  200,  says  that  "  certain  Canaanites,  near 
the  Red  Sea,  gave  provisions  to  the  Israelites  ;  and 
because  those  Canaan  kings  gave  Israel  of  their  provi- 
sions, God  would  not  destroy  their  ships,  but  with  an 
east  wind  carried  them  down  to  the  Red  Sea."  This 
colony  seftled  in  what  was  subsequently  called  Phoeni- 
cia ;  and  here  again  confirmation  is  claimed  for  Celtic 
traditions  ab  extra,  for  Herodotus  says :  "  The  Phoeni- 
cians anciently  dwelt,  as  thev  allege,  on  the  borders  of 
the  Red  Sea." 

It  is  not  known  at  what  time  this  ancient  nation 
obtained  the  specific  appellation  of  Phoenician.  The 


PHOENICIAN  TRADITIONS. 


15 


word  is  not  found  in  Hebrew  copies  of  the  Scriptures, 
but  is  used  in  the  Maccabees,  the  original  of  which 
is  Greek,  and  in  the  New  Testament.  According  to 
the  Greek  myth,  the  name  is  referred  to  Phoenix,  son 
of  Agenor  and  Telephassa,  and  brother  of  Europa  and 
Cadmus,  to  whom  is  assigned  the  invention  of  letters. 
It  may  be  noted  that  the  Annals  mention  a  king  named 
Phenius,  who  composed  an  alphabet,  and  the  elements 
of  grammar.  The  Bardic  historians  describe  the  wan- 
derings of  the  Phoenicians,  whom  they  still  designate 
Scythians,  much  as  they  are  described  by  other  writ- 
ers. The  account  of  their  route  may  differ  in  detail, 
but  the  main  incidents  coincide.  Nennius,  an  English 
chronicler,  who  wrote  in  the  seventh  century,  from  the 
oral  testimony  of  Irish  Celts,  says,  "If  any  one  would 
be  anxious  to  learn  how  long  Ireland  was  uninhabited 
and  deserted,  he  shall  hear  it  as  the  most  learned  of 
the  Scots  have  related  it  to  me. 1  When  the  children 
of  Israel  came  to  the  Red  Sea,  the  Egyptians  pursued 
them  and  were  drowned,  as  the  Scripture  records.  In 
the  time  of  Moses  there  was  a  Scythian  noble  who  had 
been  banished  from  his  kingdom,  and  dwelt  in  Egypt 
with  a  large  family.  He  was  there  when  the  Egyp- 
tians were  drowned,  but  he  did  not  join  in  the  persecu- 
tion of  the  Lord's  people.  Those  who  survived  laid 
plans  to  banish  him,  lest  he  should  assume  the  govern- 
ment, because  their  brethren  were  drowned  in  the 
Red  Sea;  so  he  was  expelled.  He  wandered  through 
Africa  for  forty-two  years,  and  passed  by  the  Lake  of 
Salinae  to  the  altars  of  the  Philistines,  and  between 
Rusicada  and  the  mountains  Azure,  and  he  came  by  the 
river  Mulon,  and  by  sea  to  the  Pillars  of  Hercules,  and 
through  the  Tuscan  Sea,  and  he  made  for  Spain,  and 
dwelt  there  many  years,  and  he  increased  and  multi- 
plied, and  his  people  were  multiplied." 

Herodotus  gives  an  account  of  the  circumnavigation 
of  Africa  by  the  Phoenicians,  which  may  have  some 
connection  with  this  narrative.  His  only  reason  for 
rejecting  the  tradition,  which  he  relates  at  length,  is 

1  M  Sic  milii  peritissimi  Scotorum  nunciaverunt."  The  Irish  were 
called  Scots,  although  the  appellative  of  Ierins  or  Ierne  continued  to 
be  given  to  the  country  down  to  the  time  of  Claudius.  By  Roman 
writers,  Ireland  was  more  usually  termed  Hibernia.  Juvenal  calls  it 
Juverna. 


IS 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


that  he  could  not  conceive  how  these  navigators  could 
have  seen  the  sun  in  a.  position  contrary  to  that  in 
which  it  is  seen  in  Europe.  The  expression  of  his 
doubt  is  a  strong  confirmation  of  the  truth  of  his  narra- 
tive, which,  however,  is  generally  believed  by  modern 
writers. 1 

This  navigation  is  said  to  have  been  performed  about 
seven  centuries  before  the  Christian  era,  and  may  by 
some  be  taken  as  a  proof  not  only  that  the  maritime 
power  of  the  Phoenicians  was  established  at  an  early 
period,  but  that  it  was  not  impossible  for  them  to  have 
extended  their  enterprises  to  Ireland.  The  accounts  of 
Celtic  annalists  may  also  be  compared  with  the  state- 
ment of  Solinus  :  "In  the  gulf  of  Boatica  there  is  an 
island,  distant  some  hundred  paces  from  the  mainland, 
which  the  Tyrians,  who  came  from  the  Red  Sea,  called 
Erythraea,  and  the  Carthaginians,  in  their  language, 
denominate  Gadir,  i.  e.  the  enclosure." 

Spanish  historians  add  their  testimony,  and  claim  the 
Phoenicians  as  their  principal  colonizers.  The  "  His- 
pania  Illustrata,"  a  rare  and  valuable  work,  on  which 
no  less  than  sixty  writers  were  engaged,  fixes  the  date 
of  the  colonization  of  Spain  by  the  Phoenicians  at  764 
a.  c.  De  Bellegarde  says  :  "  The  first  of  whom  mention 
is  made  in  history  is  Hercules,  the  Phoenician,  by  some 
called  Melchart."  It  is  alleged  that  he  lived  in  the 
time  of  Moses,  and  that  he  retired  into  Spain  when 
the  Israelites  entered  the  land  of  promise.  This  may 
agree  with  old  accounts,  if  faith  can  be  placed  in  the 
inscription  of  two  columns,  which  were  found  in  the 
province  of  Tingitane,  at  the  time  of  the  historian  Pro- 
copius.  A  Portuguese  historian,  Emanuel  de  Faria  y 
Sousa,  mentions  the  sailing  of  Gatelus  from  Egypt, 
with  his  whole  family,  and  names  his  two  sons,  Iberus 
and  Himerus,  the  first  of  whom,  he  says,  "some  will 
have  to  have  sailed  into  Ireland,  and  given  the  name 
Hibernia  to  it." 

There  can  be  little  doubt,  that  the  Celtic  race  mi- 

1  The  circumnavigation  of  Africa  by  a  Phoenician  ship,  in  the 
reign  of  Neco,  about  610  b.  c,  is  credited  by  Humboldt,  Rennell,  Hee- 
ren,  Grote,  and  Rawlinson,  but  entirely  discredited  by  Sir  Cornewall 
Lewis. —  Astronomy  of  the  Ancients,  ch.  viii.  §  8.  Sir  C.  Lewis  also 
rejects  the  talcs  or  Phoenician  voyages  to  Cornwall  for  tin,  and  to  the 
lialtic  for  amber. 


THE  FIVE  TAKINGS  OF  IRELAND 


11 


grated  in  successive  waves  from  the  high  table-lands 
of  Asia,  from  whence  the  Aryan  families  came  grad- 
ually westward.  The  only  subject  for  conjecture,  is 
the  means  by  which  each  tribe  reached  its  final  destina- 
tion in  the  little  wooded  island  in  the  western  sea. 

The  first  traditional  invasion,  or,  as  the  annalists  call 
it,  "  taking"  of  Ireland,  was  that  of  the  (1)  Neimhid- 
hians ;  the  second  that  of  the  (2)  Fomorians ;  the  third 
that  of  the  (3)  Firbolgs ;  the  fourth  that  of  the  (4)  Tua- 
tha  De  Dananns ;  the  fifth  that  of  the  (5)  Milesians. 

The  Neimhidhians  landed  in  Ireland  a.  m.  2859,  accord- 
ing to  the  ''Annals  of  the  Four  Masters."  They  occu- 
pied themselves  in  clearing  plains  and  erecting  forts, 
but  the  precise  years  of  these  occurrences  ''are  not 
found."  Nemed  died  of  plague,  with  three  thousand 
of  his  people.  The  Fomorians,  according  to  the 
"Annals  of  Clonmacnoise,"  li  were  a  sept  descended 
from  Cham,  sonne  of  Noeh  ;  and  lived  by  pyracie  and 
spoil  of  other  nations,  and  were  in  those  days  very 
troublesome  to  the  whole  world."  They  were  cer- 
tainly very  "  troublesome  "  to  the  Neimhidhians,  with 
whom  they  had  a  fierce  battle,  which  resulted  in  the 
flight  or  destruction  of  the  former. 

After  this  engagement,  some  of  the  Neimhidhians  fled 
into  the  interior  of  the  island.  Three  bands  were  said 
to  have  emigrated  with  their  respective  captains.  One 
party  wandered  into  the  north  of  Europe,  and  are 
believed  to  have  been  the  progenitors  of  the  Tuatha  De 
Dananns  ;  others  made  their  way  to  Greece,  where  they 
were  enslaved,  and  obtained  the  name  of  Firbolgs,  or 
bagmen.  They  are  said  to  have  been  so  called  as  be- 
ing employed  to  erect  the  hanging  gardens  of  Pindus 
on  Ffemus,  each  man  being  obliged  to  wear  a  leathern 
bag,  in  which  he  carried  up  the  soil  necessary  for  the 
work.  The  third  section  sought  refuge  in  the  north 
of  England,  which  is  said  to  have  obtained  its  name  of 
Britain  from  their  leader,  Briotan  Maol. 

According  to  O'Flaherty,  the  Fomorians  were  vikings 
from  Denmark,  Norway,  and  Finland.  Some  of  the 
old  annalists  think  that  they  were  African  vikings. 
Their  great  stronghold  was  called  Tir-Conainn,  or  Co- 
nang's  Tower.    It  was  built  on  the  present  Torig 


18 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


island,  on  the  north-west  coast  of  Donegal.  It  was 
here  the  great  battle  was  fought  in  which  they  defeated 
the  Neimhidhians.  The  latter  were  at  first  victorious, 
but  the  Fomorians  obtained  succor  by  sea,  which  ena- 
bled them  to  conquer.  Their  name  in  Irish  implies  that 
they  were  sea  robbers  ;  and  their  memory  is  still  pre- 
served in  the  Celtic  name  of  the  Giant's  Causeway, 
which  is  Cloghan-na-Fomharaigh,  or  the  stepping-stone 
of  the  Fomorians.  Neimhidh  and  his  race  remained  in 
Ireland  for  two  hundred  and  sixteen  years  ;  and,  after 
this,  Ireland  was  a  wilderness  for  two  hundred  years. 

The  Bardic  Annals  place  the  arrival  of  the  Firbolgs 
under  the  year  3266.  They  had  multiplied  rapidly  in 
Greece,  where  they  were  enslaved,  and  determined  to 
free  themselves  from  their  masters.  The  Firbolgs  have 
been  called  Belgse  by  some  modern  authorities,  and 
identified  with  the  people  of  Belgic  Gaul  and  the  Bel- 
gse  and  Dumnonii  of  North  Britain.  It  is,  at  least,  cer- 
tain, that  some  monuments,  still  existing,  are  ascribed 
to  them  by  a  uniform  tradition,  both  written  and  oral. 
The  western  isles  of  Arun  contain  the  great  stone  for- 
tresses of  Dun  Conor  and  Dun  (Engus,  built  by  their 
chieftains.  They  were  a  dark -haired  and  dark-skinned 
race,  small  in  comparison  with  their  conquerors,  though 
apparently  all  descendants  of  a  common  ancestor. 

The  Firbolg  dynasty  —  if,  indeed,  it  deserves  so  dig- 
nified an  appellation — is  said  to  have  lasted  only  for 
half  a  century  ;  but,  during  this  period,  they  divided  Ire- 
land into  five  provinces,  governed  by  five  brothers,  the 
sons  of  Dela  MacLoich  :  — "  Slane,  the  eldest  brother, 
had  the  province  of  Leynster  for  his  part,  which  con- 
taineth  from  Inver  Colpe,  that  is  to  say,  where  the 
river  Boyne  entereth  into  the  sea,  now  called  in  Irish 
Drogheda,  to  the  meeting  of  the  three  waters,  by 
Waterford,  where  the  three  rivers,  Suyre,  Ffeoir,  and 
Barrow,  do  meet  and  together  run  into  the  sea.  Gann, 
the  second  brother's  part,  was  South  Munster,  which 
is  a  province  extending  from  that  place  to  Bealagh-Con- 
glaissey.  Sean  gann,  the  third  brother's  part,  was  from 
Beala^h-Conglaissey  to  Rossedahaileagh,  now  called 
Limbriche,  which  is  in  the  province  of  North  Munster. 
Geanaun,  the  fourth  brother,  had  the  province  of  Con- 


THE  FIRBOLG  DYNASTY. 


19 


nacht,  containing  from  Limerick  to  Easroe.  Rorye,  the 
fifth  brother  and  youngest,  from  Easroe  aforesaid  to 
Inver  Colpe,  which  is  in  the  province  of' Ulster." 

The  fourth  or  (4)  Tuatha  De  Danann  "taking"  of 
Ireland  is  recorded  under  the  year  3303,  in  the  reign 
of  Eochaidh,  son  of  Ere.  According  to  the  Annals,  the 
Tuatha  De  Denanns  came  from  Greece,  through  Scan- 
dinavia, following  the  course  of  the  rivers  which  flow 
into  the  Baltic. 

The  Firbolgian  dynasty  was  terminated  at  the  battle 
of  Magh  Tuireadh.  Eochaidh  fled  from  the  battle,  and 
was  killed  on  the  strand  near  Ballysadare,  co.  Sligo. 
The  cave  where  he  was  interred  is  still  shown,  and 
there  is  a  curious  tradition  that  the  tide  can  never 
cover  it.  The  Tuatha  De  Danann  king,  Nuada,  lost 
his  hand  in  this  battle,  and  obtained  the  name  of  Nuada 
of  the  Silver  Hand,  his  artificer,  Credne  Cert,  having 
made  a  silver  hand  for  him  with  joints.  The  latter 
acquisition  would  seem  to  have  been  the  work  of  Mi- 
och,  the  son  of  Diancecht,  Nuada' s  physician,  as  there 
is  a  tradition  that  he  "  took  off  the  hand  and  infused 
feeling  and  motion  into  every  joint  and  finger  of  it,  as 
if  it  were  a  natural  hand."  1 

It  should  be  observed  here,  that  the  Brehon  Laws 
were  probably  then  in  force,  for  the  <l  blemish"  of  the 
monarch  appears  to  have  deprived  him  of  his  dignity, 
at  least  until  the  silver  hand  could  make  amends  for 
the  defective  limb.  The  Four  Masters  tell  us  briefly 
that  the  Tuatha  De  Dananns  gave  the  sovereignty  to 
Breas,  son  of  Ealathan,  "  while  the  hand  of  Nuada 
was  under  cure,"  and  mention  that  Breas  resigned  the 
kingdom  to  him  in  the  seventh  year  after  the  cure  of 
his  hand. 

A  detailed  account  of  this  affair  may  be  found  in  one 
of  the  ancient  historic  tales  of  the  class  called  Catha 
or  Battles,  which  Professor  O'Curry  pronounces  to  be 
"  almost  the  earliest  event  upon  the  record  of  which  we 
may  place  sure  reliance."  It  would  appear  that  there 
were  two  battles  between  the  Firbolgs  and  Tuatha  De 
Dananns,  and  that,  in  the  last  of  these,  Nuada  was  slain. 
According  to  this  ancient  tract,  when  the  Firbolg  king 

1  The  same  story  is  told  of  Indra  Savitar.  —  Max  Muller,  Lectures  on 
Language,  2nd  series,  viii. 


20 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


heard  of  the  arrival  of  the  invaders,  he  sent  a  warrior 
named  Sreng  to  reconnoitre  their  camp.  The  Tuatha  De 
Dananns  were  as  skilled  in  war  as  in  magic  ;  they  had 
sentinels  carefully  posted,  and  their  videttes  were  as 
much  on  the  alert  as  a  Wellington  or  a  Napier  could 
desire.  The  champion  Breas  was  sent  forward  to  meet 
the  stranger.  As  they  approached,  each  raised  his 
shield,  and  cautiously  surveyed  his  opponent  from 
above  the  protecting  segis.  Breas  was  the  first  to 
speak.  The  mother-tongue  was  as  dear  then  as  now, 
and  Sreng  was  charmed  to  hear  himself  addressed  in 
his  own  language,  which,  equally  dear  to  the  exiled 
Nemedian  chiefs,  had  been  preserved  by  them  in  their 
long  wanderings  through  northern  Europe.  An  exam- 
ination of  each  other's  armor  next  took  place.  Sreng 
was  armed  with  "  two  heavy,  thick,  pointless,  but 
sharply  rounded  spears ;  "  while  Breas  carried  "  two 
beautifully  shaped,  thin,  slender,  long,  sharp-pointed 
spears."  Perhaps,  the  one  bore  a  spear  of  the  same 
class  of  heavy  flint  weapons,  and  the  other  the  lighter 
and  more  graceful  sword,  of  which  many  specimens  may 
be  seen  in  the  collection  of  the  Royal  Irish  Academy. 
Breas  then  proposed  that  they  should  divide  the  island 
between  the  two  parties  ;  and,  after  exchanging  spears 
and  promises  of  mutual  friendship,  each  returned  to  his 
own  camp. 

The  Firbolg  king,  however,  objected  to  this  arrange- 
ment ;  and  it  was  decided.,  in  a  council  of  war,  to  give 
battle  to  the  invaders.  The  Tuatha  De  Dananns  were 
prepared  for  this  from  the  account  which  Breas  gave  of 
the  Firbolg  warriors ;  they  therefore  abandoned  their 
camp,  and  took  up  a  strong  position  on  Mount  Bel- 
gadan,  at  the  west  end  of  Magh  Ma,  a  site  near  the 
village  of  Cong,  co.  Mayo, 
f*  The  Firbolgs  marched  from  Tara  to  meet  them ;  but 
Nuada,  anxious  for  pacific  arrangements,  opened  new 
negotiations  with  King  Eochaidh  through  the  medium 
of  his  bards.  The  battle  which  has  been  mentioned 
before  then  followed.  The  warrior  Breas,  who  ruled 
during  the  disability  of  Nuada,  was  by  no  means  popu- 
lar. He  was  not  hospitable,  &  sine  qua  non  for  king  or 
chief  from  the  earliest  ages  of  Celtic  being ;  he  did 
not  love  the  bards,  for  the  same  race  ever  cherished 


BALOR  OF  THE  EVIL  EYE. 


21 


and  honored  learning,  and  he  attempted  to  enslave  the 
nobles.  Discontent  came  to  a  climax  when  the  bard 
Cairbre,  son  of  the  poetess  Etan,  visited  the  royal  court, 
and  was  sent  to  a  dark  chamber,  without  fire  or  bed, 
and,  for  all  royal  fare,  served  with  three  small  cakes  of 
bread. 

The  poet  left  the  court  next  morning,  but  not  until 
he  pronounced  a  bitter  and  withering  satire  on  the 
king  —  the  first  satire  that  had  ever  been  pronounced 
in  Erin.  It  was  enough.  Strange  effects  are  attrib- 
uted to  the  satire  of  a  poet  in  those  olden  times  ;  but 
probably  the}7  could,  in  all  cases,  bear  the  simple  and 
obvious  interpretation,  that  he  on  whom  the  satire  was 
pronounced  was  thereby  disgraced  eternally  before  his 
people.  For  how  slight  a  punishment  would  bodily  suf- 
fering or  deformity  be,  in  comparison  to  the  mental 
suffering  of  which  a  quick- souled  people  are  eminently 
capable ! 

Breas  was  called  on  to  resign.  He  did  so  with  the 
worst  possible  grace,  as  might  be  expected  from  such 
a  character.  His  father,  Elatha,  was  a  Pomorian  sea- 
king  or  pirate,  and  he  repaired  to  his  court.  His 
reception  was  not  such  as  he  had  expected  ;  he  there- 
fore went  to  Balor  of  the  Evil  Eye,  a  Fomorian  chief. 
The  two  warriors  collected  a  vast  army  and  navy,  and 
formed  a  bridge  of  ships  and  boats  from  the  Hebrides  to 
the  north-west  coast  of  Erin.  Having  landed  their 
forces,  they  marched  to  a  plain  in  the  barony  of  Tirer- 
rill  in  Sligo,  where  they  waited  an  attack  or  surrender 
of  the  Tuatha  De  Danann  army.  But  the  magical 
skill,  or,  more  correctly,  the  superior  abilities  of  this  peo- 
ple, proved  them  more  than  equal  to  the  occasion.  The 
chronicler  gives  a  quaint  and  most  interesting  account 
of  the  Tuatha  De  Danann  arrangements.  Probably  the 
Crimean  campaign,  despite  our  nineteenth  century 
advancements  in  the  art  of  war,  was  not  prepared  for 
more  carefully,  or  carried  out  more  efficiently. 

Nuada  called  what  would  now  be  termed  a  privy  coun- 
cil, and  obtained  the  advice  of  the  great  Daghda  ;  of 
Lug,  the  son  of  Cian,  son  of  Diancecht,  the  famous  phy- 
sician ;  and  of  Ogma  Grian-Aineach  (of  the  sun- like 
face).  But  Daghda  and  Lug  were  evidently  secretaries 
of  state  for  the  home  and  war  departments,  and  ar- 


22 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


ranged  these  intricate  affairs  with,  perhaps,  more  honor 
to  their  master,  and  more  credit  to  the  nation,  than 
many  a  modern  and  "  civilized  "  statesman.  They  sum- 
moned to  their  presence  the  heads  of  each  department 
necessary  for  carrying  on  the  war.  Each  depart- 
ment was,  therefore,  carefully  pre-organized,  in  such 
a  manner  as  to  make  success  almost  certain,  and  to 
obtain  every  possible  succor  and  help  form  those  en- 
gaged in  the  combat,  or  those  who  had  suffered  from  it. 
The  "  smiths  "  were  prepared  to  make  and  to  mend  the 
swords,  the  surgeons  to  heal  or  staunch  the  wounds, 
the  bards  and  druids  to  praise  or  blame  ;  and  each  knew 
his  work,  and  what  was  expected  from  the  department 
which  he  headed  before  the  battle,  for  the  questions 
put  to  each,  and  their  replies,  are  on  record. 

A  full  account  of  this  battle  and  of  the  preparations 
for  it,  is  given  in  a  tract  at  present  in  the  British  Mu- 
seum. It  was  copied  by  Gilla-Riabhach  O'Clery,  a.  d. 
1460,  from  an  ancient  manuscript.  As  an  evidence  of 
the  antiquity  of  the  original,  it  may  be  remarked  that 
it  is  quoted  by  Cormac  MacCullinan  in  his  glossary. 
Oormac  was  king  of  Munster  in  the  year  885,  and  his 
glossary  was  compiled  to  explain  words  which  had 
even  then  become  obsolete. 

The  plain,  on  which  this  battle  is  said  to  have  been 
fought,  retains  the  name  of  the  Plain  of  the  Towers  (or 
Pillars)  of  the  Fomorians,  and  some  very  curious  sepul- 
chral monuments  may  still  be  seen  on  the  ancient  field. 

In  those  days,  as  in  the  middle  ages,  ladies  exercised 
their  skill  in  the  healing  art ;  and  we  find  honorable 
mention  made  of  the  Lady  Ochtriuil,  who  assisted  the 
chief  physician  (her  father)  and  his  sons  in  healing 
the  wounds  of  the  Tuatha  De  Danann  heroes. 

Daghda  received  a  wound  in  this  engagement  (the 
battle  of  Moyture),  from  the  effects  of  which  he  died, 
although,  from  his  long  reign,  his  decease  might  seem 
more  likely  to  be  a  decay  of  nature.  The  erection  of 
the  famous  tomb  on  the  banks  of  the  Boyne,  known  as 
the  mound  of  New  Grange,  is  attributed  to  him. 

Daghda  Mor,  i.  e.  the  Great  Good  Fire,  is  said  to 
have  reigned  for  seventy  years.  His  proper  appella- 
tion is  Eochaidh  Ollathar,  but  he  is  more  frequently 
mentioned  by  his   sobriquet.    His    grandsons  were 


DAGHDA  AND  HIS  DESCENDANTS. 


23 


called  MacColl,  MacKeat,  and  MacGren^,  because  they 
worshipped  the  hazel  tree  (Coll),  the  ploughshare 
(Keact),  and  the  sun  (Grian).  Their  wives  were 
called  Banba,  Fola,  and  Eri ;  and  Ireland  was  called  at 
different  times  each  of  these  names  by  the  bardic  his- 
torians. 

It  is  said  that  Daghda  and  his  sons  were  buried  at 
Brugh-na-Boinne,  a  place  on  the  river  Boyne,  near 
Stacbrallen  Bridge,  where  the  mound  called  Sidh-na- 
Brogha  was  raised  over  them  as  a  monument.  The 
name  is  still  familiar  to  the  old  inhabitants  of  Meath. 
In  many  parts  of  Ireland,  traditions  of  the  Tuatha  De 
Dananns  and  their  magical  doings  are  related  ;  and  the 
reputation  of  their  more  than  ordinary  skill  in  science, 
and  such  knowledge  as  the  age  could  boast,  has  been 
transmitted  with  unfailing  accuracy. 

The  fair  of  Tailltean,  now  Teltown,  in  the  county 
Meath,  was  established  by  Hugh,  a  Tuatha  De  Danann 
monarch,  in  remembrance  of  his  foster-mother,  Taillte, 
the  daughter  of  Maghmor,  King  of  Spain,  and  wife  of 
Eochy,  son  of  Ere,  the  last  king  of  the  Firbolgs. 

It  appears,  from  a  very  curious  and  ancient  tract, 
written  in  the  shape  of  a  dialogue  between  St.  Patrick 
and  Caoilte  MacRonain,  that  there  were  many  places  in 
Ireland  where  the  Tuatha  De  Dananns  were  then  sup- 
posed to  live  as  sprites  and  fairies  with  corporeal  and 
material  forms,  but  endued  with  immortality.  From  this 
it  may  be  inferred  that  the  Tuatha  De  Dananns  lin- 
gered in  the  country  for  many  centuries  after  their  sub- 
jugation by  the  Gaedhils,  and  that  they  lived  in  retired 
situations,  [[where  they  practised  abstruse  arts,  from 
which  they  obtained  the  reputation  of  being  magicians. 

The  Tuatha  De  Dananns  are  also  said  to  have  brought  " 
the  famous  Lia  Fail,  or  Stone  of  Destiny,  to  Ireland. 
It  is  said  by  some  authorities,  that  this  stone  was  car- 
ried to  Scotland  when  an  Irish  colony  invaded  North 
Britain,  and  that  it  was  eventually  brought  to  England 
by  Edward  I.,  in  the  year  1300,  and  deposited  in  West- 
minster Abbey.  It  is  supposed  to  be  identical  with 
the  large  block  of  stone  which  may  be  seen  there  under 
the  coronation  chair.  Dr.  Petrie,  however,  controverts 
this  statement,  and  believes  it  to  be  the  present  pillar 


24 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


stone  over  the  Croppies'  Grave  in  one  of  the  raths  of 
Tara. 

A  Danann  prince,  called  Oghma,  is  said  to  have 
invented  the  occult  form  of  writing  called  the  Ogham 
Craove,  which,  like  the  round  towers,  has  proved  so 
fertile  a  source  of  doubt  and  discussion  to  antiquaries. 

The  fifth  and  last  traditional  taking  of  Ireland  was 
that  of  the  (5)  Milesians.  This  people,  like  each  of 
the  preceding  colonists,  claims  to  be  descended  from 
Japhet  through  Magog.  But  they  arrived  in  Ireland 
by  a  different  route  from  that  taken  by  their  predeces- 
sors, and  are  said  to  have  journeyed  by  way  of  Scythia, 
Egypt,  and  Spain.  In  the  latter  country  they  founded 
the  city  of  Brigantium,  near  the  present  Corunna,  under 
the  leadership  of  Breogain.  A  famine  obliged  them  to 
seek  a  new  home,  and  Ith,  the  son  of  Breogain,  having 
obtained,  by  conjecture  or  information,  some  idea  of 
the  existence  of  the  western  isle,  set  out  on  a  voyage 
of  discovery.  On  his  arrival  in  Ireland  he  found  it  pos- 
sible to  converse  with  the  inhabitants  in  the  common 
Celtic  tongue.  He  professed  to  have  landed  merely 
from  stress  of  weather,  but  offered  himself,  and  was 
accepted,  as  umpire  by  Daghda's  three  grandsons,  who 
were  quarreling  among  themselves.  Having  settled 
the  dispute,  he  made  preparations  for  his  return ;  but 
the  Tuatha  De  Danann  princes  became  alarmed,  and  fol- 
lowed him  to  the  shores  of  Lough  Foyle,  where  he  was 
mortally  wounded  while  bravely  covering  the  retreat  of 
his  followers  to  their  ship.  They  contrived  to  escape, 
and  to  carry  his  corpse  to  Spain,  where  his  kinsmen, 
the  sons  of  Milidh,  the  grandson  of  Breogain,  deter- 
mined to  avenge  his  death. 

But  the  Annals  give  records  of  Milesian  pedigree, 
which,  however  improbable,  may  not  be  wholly  unno- 
ticed. According  to  these  accounts,  Fenias  Farsaidh 
came  out  of  Scythia  to  Nimrod  ;  and,  some  time  after 
the  building  of  the  Tower  of  Babel,  Niul,  the  son  of 
Fenias,  travelled  into  Egypt,  where  Pharaoh  gave  him 
his  daughter  Scota  in  marriage.  Niul  had  a  son  named 
Gaedhuil,  and  from  him  the  Irish  are  called  Gaedhil 
(Gael)  or  Gaedelians ;  from  his  mother,  Scoti,  or  Scots, 
and  from  his  father  Feni,  or  Fenians.    The  bards  then 


THE  MILESIANS  AND  THEIR  PEDIGREE. 


25 


say  that  when  Pharaoh  pursued  the  Israelites,  the  chil- 
dren of  Niul  refused  to  assist  him,  and  subsequently 
escaped  by  the  Red  Sea,  in  the  deserted  ships  of  the 
pursuers.  They  eventually  reached  Scythia,  and  from 
thence  emigrated,  after  the  lapse  of  many  generations, 
to  Spain,  where  they  built  the  city  of  Brigantium.  An 
eminent  Irish  antiquary,  Sir  W.  Wylde,  has  identified 
the  town  of  Breogan  with  the  Pharos  of  Corunna. 

The  Pour  Masters  thus  relate  the  fifth,  or  Milesian, 
taking  of  Ireland: — "  The  age  of  the  world  3500. 
The  fleet  of  the  sons  of  Milidh  came  to  Ireland  at  the 
end  of  this  year,  to  take  it  from  the  Tuatha  De  a- 
nanns,  and  they  fought  the  battle  of  Sliabh  Mis  with 
them  on  the  third  day  after  landing.  In  this  battle 
fell  Scota,  the  daughter  of  Pharaoh,  wife  of  Milidh  ; 
and  the  grave  of  Scota  is  (to  be  seen)  between  Sliabh 
Mis  and  the  sea.  Therein  also  fell  Fas,  the  wife  of  Un, 
son  of  Uige,  from  whom  is  (named)  Gleann  Faisi.  After 
this  the  sons  of  Milidh  fought  a  battle  at  Taillten 
against  the  three  kings  of  the  Tuatha  De  Dananns, 
MacCuill,  MacCeacht,  and  MacGriene.  The  battle 
lasted  for  a  long  time,  until  MacCeacht  fell  by  Eirem- 
hon,  MacCuill  by  Eimheur,  and  MacGriene  by  Amher- 
gin." 

The  grave  of  Scota  is  still  shown  in  the  valley  of 
Gleann- Scoithin,  in  the  .county  Kerry,  and  is  marked  on 
the  Ordnance  map.  Slieve  Mish  is  the  name  of  a  moun- 
tain in  the  same  survey. 

The  Milesians,  however,  did  not  obtain  a  landing 
without  some  difficulty.  According  to  the  Bardic 
accounts,  they  landed  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  Slainge, 
or  Slaney,  in  the  present  county  of  Wexford,  unper- 
ceived  by  the  Tuatha  De  Dananns.  From  thence  they 
marched  to  Tara,  the  seat  of  government,  and  sum- 
moned the  three  kings  to  surrender.  A  curious  legend 
is  told  of  this  summons  and  its  results.  The  Tuatha 
De  Danann  princes  complained  that  they  had  been 
taken  by  surprise,  and  proposed  to  the  invaders  to 
re-embark,  and  to  go  out  upon  the  sea,  "the  distance 
of  nine  waves/7  stating  that  the  country  should  be  sur- 
rendered to  them  if  they  could  then  effect  a  landing  by 
force.  The  Milesian  chiefs  assented";  but  when  the  orig- 
inal inhabitants  found  them  fairly  launched  at  sea,  they 


26 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


raised  a  tempest  by  magical  incantations,  which  en- 
tirely dispersed  the  fleet.  One  part  of  it  was  driven 
along  the  east  coast  of  Erin,  to  the  north,  under  the 
command  of  Eremon,  the  youngest  of  the  Milesian 
brothers  ;  the  remainder,  under  the  command  of  Donn, 
the  elder  brother,  was  driven  to  the  south-west  of  the 
island. 

But  the  Milesians  had  druids  also.  As  soon  as  they 
suspected  the  agency  which  had  caused  the  storm, 
they  sent  a  man  to  the  topmast  of  the  ship,  to  know 
is  if  the  wind  was  blowing  at  that  height  over  the  surface 
of  the  sea."  The  druids  then  commenced  practising 
counter  arts  of  magic,  in  which  they  soon  succeeded, 
but  not  until  five  of  the  eight  brothers  were  lost. 
Four,  including  Donn,  were  drowned  in  the  wild  Atlan- 
tic, off  the  coast  of  Kerry.  Colpa  met  his  fate  at  the 
mouth  of  the  river  Boyne,  called  from  him  Inver  Colpa. 
Eber  Finn  and  Amergin,  the  survivors  of  the  southern 
party,  landed  in  Kerry,  and  here  the  battle  of  Slieve 
Mis  was  fought,  which  has  been  already  mentioned. 

The  battle  of  Taillten  followed ;  and  the  Milesians, 
having  become  masters  of  the  country,  the  brothers, 
Eber  Finn  and  Eremon,  divided  it  between  them  ;  the 
former  taking  all  the  southern  part,  from  the  Boyne 
and  the  Shannon  to  Cape  Clear,  the  latter  taking  all 
the  part  lying  to  the  north  of  these  rivers. 

This  arrangement,  however,  was  not  of  long  contin- 
uance. Each  was  desirous  of  unlimited  sovereignty ; 
and  they  met  to  decide  their  claims  by  an  appeal  to 
arms  at  Geisill,  a  place  near  the  present  Tullamore, 
in  the  King's  County.  Eber  and  his  chief  leaders  fell  in 
this  engagement,  and  Eremon  assumed  the  sole  govern- 
ment of  the  island. 

The  scene  of  the  battle  is  called  "  the  causeway 
between  two  plains,"  and  is  on  the  bank  of  the  river 
which  runs  through  the  town  of  Tullamore.  The  name 
of  the  battle-field  is  still  preserved  in  the  name  of  the 
townland  of  Ballintogher,  in  the  parish  and  barony  of 
Geisill.  In  the  sixth  century,  when  the  ancient  topo- 
graphical tract  called  the  "  Dinnseanchus  "  was  com- 
posed, the  mounds  and  graves  of  the  slain  were  still  to 
be  seen. 

Eremon  took  up  his  residence  in  Leinster,  and,  after 


THE  CRUITHNEANS  OR  PlCTS. 


27 


a  reign  of  fifteen  years,  died,  and  was  buried  in  Argat 
Boss.  His  rath  still  exists,  and  is  now  called  Rath 
Beagh.  It  is  situated  on  the  right  bank  of  the  river 
Nore,  near  the  present  village  of  Ballyragget,  county 
Kilkenny.  This  is  not  narrated  by  the  Four  Masters, 
but  it  is  recorded  in  all  the  ancient  copies  of  the  "  Book 
of  Invasions,"  and  in  the  "  Dinnseanchus."  The  Cruith- 
neans  or  Picts  are  said  to  have  fled  from  the  oppression 
of  their  king  in  Thrace,  and  to  have  passed  into  Gaul. 
There  they  founded  the  city  of  Poictiers.  From  thence 
they  were  again  driven  by  an  act  of  tyranny,  and  they 
proceeded  first  to  Britain,  and  then  to  Ireland.  Crimh- 
thann  Sciath-bel,  one  of  King  Eremon?s  leaders,  was  at 
Wexford  when  the  new  colony  landed.  He  was  occu- 
pied in  extirpating  a  tribe  of  Britons  who  had  settled 
in  Fotharta,  and  were  unpleasantly  distinguished  for 
fighting  with  poisoned  weapons.  The  Irish  chieftain 
asked  the  assistance  of  the  new  comers.  A  battle  was 
fought,  and  the  Britons  were  defeated  principally  by  the 
skill  of  the  Pictish  Druid,  who  found  an  antidote  for 
the  poison  of  their  weapons.  According  to  the  quaint 
account  of  Bede,  the  Celtic  chiefs  gave  good  advice  to 
their  foreign  allies  in  return  for  their  good  deeds,  and 
recommended  them  to  settle  in  North  Britain,  adding 
that  they  would  come  to  their  assistance  should  they 
find  any  difficulty  or  opposition  from  the  inhabitants. 
The  Picts  took  the  advice,  but  soon  found  themselves 
in  want  of  helpmates.  They  applied  again  to  their 
neighbors,  and  were  obligingly  supplied  with  wives,  on 
the  condition  "  that,  when  any  difficulty  should  arise, 
they  should  choose  a  king  from  the  female  royal  race 
rather  than  from  the  male."  The  Picts  accepted  the 
terms  and  the  ladies;  "and  the  custom,"  says  Bede, 
"  as  is  well  known,  is  observed  among  the  Picts  to  this 
day." 


28 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  PAGAN  MILESIAN  KINGS  OF  IRELAND 

B.C.  1015  TO  A.D.  428. 

Synchronous  Events:  Solomon,  K  ng  of  Israel— Revolt  of  the  Ten 
Tribes —  Kingdom  of  Macedon  founded  — Foundation  of  Eome 
—  Sennacherib  invades  Judea —Termination  of  the  Assyrian 
Monarchy  —  Babylon  taken  by  the  Persians  — Treaty  between  the 
Romans  and  Carthaginians  —  Persia  invaded  by  Alexander— 
Punic  wars  —  Death  of  Pompey  —  Murder  of  Caesar — P>irth  of 
Jesus  Christ  — Persecution  of  the  Christians  —  Alaric  besieges 
Rome.  , 

A  hundred  and  eighteen  sovereigns  are  said  to  have 
ruled  in  ancient  Erin  from  the  Milesian  invasion  to  the 
coming  of  St.  Patrick.  But  authentic  Irish  history  is 
said  to  commence  b.  c.  116.  Before  that  period,  the 
principal  deeds  recorded  are  the  clearing  of  forests, 
the  enactment  of  laws,  and  the  erection  of  forts. 

Eremon  divided  Ireland  during  the  year  in  which  he 
obtained  the  sole  sovereignty  of  that  country.  He 
gave  the  province  of  Ulster  to  Emhear,  son  of  Ir  ; 
Munster  to  the  five  sons  of  Emhear  Finn ;  Connaught 
to  Un  and  Eadan ;  and  Leinster  to  Crimhthann,  a 
descendant  of  the  Firbolgs.  Eremon  had  married  Tea, 
the  daughter  of  Lughaidh,  son  of  Ith,  in  Spain ;  and 
she  requested  a-"  choice  hill  "  as  her  dower,  where  she 
might  be  interred,  and  where  every  prince  born  of  her 
race  might  dwell.  She  selected  the  hill  of  Druim-Caein. 
This  was  the  name  given  by  the  Firbolg  chieftains  to 
the  eminence  subsequently  known  as  the  hill  of  Team- 
hair  (Tara),  mur  in  Irish,  signifying  a  town  or  palace, 
and  being  joined  to  Tea,  gives  its  meaning,  the  house 
or  palace  of  Tea.  Thus  was  founded  the  famous  Tara, 
the  ruins  of  which  remain  to  the  present  day.  The 
meaning  of  the  name,  however,  has  been  variously  ren- 
dered, and  the  most  generally  received  interpretation 
is  that  Teamhair  means  a  hill  commanding  a  pleasant 
prospect.  Eremon  died  at  Airget-Ros  in  the  fifteenth 
year  of  his  reign. 


REIGN  OF  QUEEN  MACHA. 


29 


About  three  hundred  years  before  Christ,  three 
cousins,  the  sons  of  three  brothers,  claimed  an  equal 
right  to  the  throne,  and  it  is  at  this  period  that  the 
authentic  pre-Christian  history  of  Ireland  is  supposed 
to  commence.  These  princes  were  named  respectively 
Hugh  the  Red,  Dithorba,  and  Kimbay.  A  compact 
was  made,  by  which  they  agreed  that  each  should 
reign  for  seven  years  in  turn,  and  their  agreement  was 
confirmed  by  seven  druids,  seven  poets,  and  seven 
champions  ;  "the  seven  druids  to  crush  them  by  their 
incantations,  the  seven  poets  to  lacerate  them  by 
their  satires,  the  seven  young  champions  to  slay  and 
burn  them,  should  the  proper  man  of  them  not  receive 
the  sovereignty  at  the  end  of  each  seventh  year." 
This  compact  was  observed  till  each  had  reigned  twice, 
for  seven  years,  in  turn.  After  Hugh  the  Red  had 
obtained  his  third  septennial,  he  was  drowned  at  Assa- 
roe  (Red  Hugh's  Cataract).  Dithorba  succeeded,  and 
then  Kimbay  ;  but  when  it  came  to  Hugh's  turn  again, 
his  daughter  Macha  claimed  the  throne. 

The  two  princes  refused  to  give  the  sovereign  power 
to  a  woman,  and  Macha  had  recourse  to  arms  to  enforce 
her  claim.  She  obtained  the  victory,  and  drove  Dith- 
orba and  his  sons  into  Connaught,  where  he  was  slain. 
Having  thus  disposed  of  one  of  her  opponents,  she 
married  the  other  and  allowed  him  to  reign.  When 
the  sovereignty  had  been  settled,  she  marched  into  Con- 
naught  and  captured  Dithorba's  sons,  and  brought  them 
back  in  fetters  to  Ulster,  where  she  compelled  them  to 
erect  the  fort  of  Emhain,  that  it  might  always  be  the 
chief  city  of  Ulster.  A  considerable  portion  of  this 
marvellous  fortress  is  still  in  existence,  and  is  now 
called  Navan  Fort.  It  is  situated  near  the  present 
town  of  Armagh.  Macha  survived  her  husband  seven 
years,  and  was  slain  by  Rectaid ;  but  her  death  was 
avenged  by  her  foster-son,  Ugaine  Mor,  whose  long  and 
prosperous  reign  forms  an  important  period  in  Irish 
pagan  records.  Ugaine*  Mor  governed  Ireland  for 
fifty  years;  and  the  annalists  declare  that  his  power 
was  acknowledged  as  far  as  the  Mediterranean  Sea. 
Ugaine  Mor  (the  Great)  divided  his  kingdom  between 
his  twenty-five  children,  of  whom  twenty-two  were 
sons  ;  and  he  exacted  an  oath  from  the  people,  "  by  the 


30 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


sun  and  moon,  the  sea,  the  dew,  and  the  colors,  and  all 
the  elements  visible  and  invisible,"  that  the  sover- 
eignty of  Erin  should  not  be  taken  from  his  descend- 
ants for  ever.  This  mode  of  binding  posterity  seems  to 
have  been  a  favorite  one,  for  we  find  it  again  adopted 
by  Tuathal  Techtmar,  one  of  Ugain^'s  descendants. 

TJgain^  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  Lore,  who  was 
cruelly  and  treacherously  killed  by  his  brother,  Cael. 
Indeed,  few  monarchs  lived  out  their  time  in  peace 
during  this  and  the  succeeding  centuries.  The  assas- 
sination of  Laeghaire  was  another  manifestation  of  the 
old-world  story  of  envy.  The  treacherous  Cael  feigned 
sickness,  which  he  knew  would  obtain  a  visit  from  his 
brother.  When  the  monarch  stooped  to  embrace  him, 
he  plunged  a  dagger  into  his  heart.  His  next  act  was 
to  kill  his  nephew,  Ailill  Aine ;  and  his  ill-treatment  of 
Aine's  son,  Maen,  was  the  consummation  of  his  cruelty. 
The  fratricide  was  at  last  slain  by  this  very  youth,  who 
had  now  obtained  the  appellation  of  "  Lowry  of  the 
Ships." 

The  "  History  of  the  Exile  "  is  still  preserved  in  the 
Leabhar  Buidhe  Lecain,  now  in  the  Library  of  Trinity 
College,  Dublin.  It  is  a  highly  romantic  story,  but  evi- 
dently founded  on  fact,  and  full  of  interest,  as  descrip- 
tive of  public  and  private  life  about  three  centuries 
before  Christ.  It  tells  how  Maen,  though  supposed  to 
be  deaf  and  dumb,  was,  nevertheless,  given  in  charge 
of  two  officers  of.  the  court  to  be  educated  ;  that  he 
recovered,  or  rather  obtained  speech  suddenly,  in  a 
quarrel  with  another  youth  ;  and  that  he  was  as  sym- 
metrical of  form  and  noble  of  bearing  as  all  heroes  of 
romance  are  bound  to  be.  His  uncle  expelled  him 
from  the  kingdom,  and  he  took  refuge  at  the  court  of 
King  Scoriath.  King  Scoriath  had  a  daughter,  who 
was  beautiful,  and  of  whom  Maen  became  enamored. 
The  Lady  Moriath's  beauty  had  bewildered  more  heads 
than  that  of  the  knight-errant ;  but  the  Lady  Moriath's 
father  and  mother  were  determined  their  daughter 
should  not  marry. 

The  harper  Craftine  came  to  the  rescue,  and,  at  last, 
by  his  all-entrancing  skill,  so  ravished  the  whole  party 
of  knights  and  nobles,  that  the  lovers  were  able  to 
enjoy  a  tete-a-tete,  and  pledged  mutual  vows.  The 


REIGN  OF  CONOR  MACNESSA. 


31 


parents  yielded  when  they  found  it  was  useless  to 
resist ;  and,  no  doubt,  the  poet  Crafting,  who  nearly 
lost  his  head  in  the  adventure,  was  the  most  welcome 
of  all  welcome  guests  at  the  nuptial  feast.  Indeed,  he 
appears  to  have  been  retained  as  comptroller  of  the 
house,  and  confidential  adviser  long  after  ;  for  when 
Maen  was  obliged  to  fly  the  country,  he  confided  his 
wife  to  the  care  of  Craftine.  On  his  return  from  France1 
he  obtained  possession  of  the  kingdom,  to  which  he 
was  the  rightful  heir,  and  reigned  over  the  men  of 
Erin  for  eighteen  years. 

Another  of  the  Historic  Tales  gives  an  account  of  the 
destruction  of  the  court  at  Da  Derga,  which  the  "  An- 
nals of  the  Four  Masters"  relate  thus:  "  Conaire,  the 
son  of  Ederscel,  after  having  been  seventy  years  in  the 
sovereignty  of  Erin,  was  slain  at  Bringhean  Da  Dhear- 
ga  by  the  insurgents."  Another  prince  Evehy  Felia, 
was  noted  for  sighing.  He  rescinded  the  division  of 
Ireland  into  twenty -five  portions,  which  had  been  made 
by  Ugaine  Nor  for  the  benefit  of  his  numerous  offspring, 
and  divided  the  island  into  five  provinces,  over  each  of 
which  he  appointed  a  provincial  king,  under  his  obedi- 
ence. Fergus,  son  of  Leide,  he  made  king  of  Ulster ; 
Dearga,  son  of  Lur,  and  his  relative  Tighernach,  were 
made  kings  of  the  two  Munsters ;  Rossa,  a  son  of  Fer- 
gus, was  made  king  of  Leinster ;  Oili oil,  who  was  mar- 
ried to  a  daughter  of  Eochy,  the  famous  Meav,  was 
made  king  of  Connaught.  This  division  of  Ireland, 
alike  fatal  to  its  prosperity  and  independence,  contin- 
ued for  many  centuries. 

Another  of  the  Bardic  poems,  known  as  "  Historic 
Tales, "  gives  an  account  of  the  reign  of  King  Conor 
MacNessa.  His  succession  to  the  throne,  we  are  told, 
was  rather  a  fortuity  than  the  result  of  hereditary  claim. 
Fergus  MacNessa  was  rightfully  king  at  the  time  ;  but 
Conor's  father  having  died  while  he  was  yet  an  infant, 
Fergus,  then  the  reigning  monarch,  proposed  marriage 
to  his  mother  when  the  youth  was  about  fifteen,  and 
only  obtained  her  consent,  on  the  condition  that  he 
should  hand  over  the  sovereignty  of  Ulster  to  her  son 

1  It  is  said  that  foreigners  who  came  with  him  from  Gaul  were 
armed  with  broad-headed  lances  (called  in  Irish  laighne)}  whence  the 
province  of  Leinster  has  derived  its  name. 


32 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


for  a  year.  The  monarch  complied,  and  Conor,  young 
as  he  was,  governed  with  such  wisdom  and  discretion, 
that  when  the  assigned  period  had  arrived,  the  Ulster 
men  positively  refused  to  permit  Fergus  to  resume  his 
rightful  dignity.  After  much  contention,  the  matter 
was  settled  definitely  in  favor  of  the  young  monarch, 
and  Fergus  satisfied  himself  with  still  retaining  the 
wife  for  whose  sake  he  had  willingly  made  such  sacri- 
fices. Conor  continued  to  give  ample  proofs  of  the 
wisdom  of  his  people's  decision.  Under  his  government 
the  noble  Knights  of  the  Royal  Branch  sprang  up  in 
Ulster,  and  made  themselves  famous  both  in  field  and 
court. 

It  was  usual  in  those  barbarous  times,  whenever  a 
distinguished  enemy  was  killed  in  battle,  to  cleave 
open  his  head,  and  to  make  a  ball  of  the  brains  by 
mixing  them  with  lime.  One  of  these  balls  becomes 
the  subject  of  another  legend,  which,  like  most  of  the 
events  assigned  to  these  early  ages,  can  make  no  claim 
to  the  character  of  history.  It  passed,  it  is  said,  into 
the  hands  of  a  Connaught  champion,  who  threw  it  at 
Conor,  while  he  was  displaying  himself,  according  to 
the  custom  of  the  times,  to  the  ladies  of  an  opposing 
army,  who  had  followed  their  lords  to  the  scene  of 
action.  The  ball  lodged  in  the  king's  skull,  and  his 
physicians  declared  that  an  attempt  to  extract  it  would 
prove  fatal.  Conor  was  carried  home  ;  he  soon  recov- 
ered, but  he  was  strictly  forbidden  to  use  any  violent 
exercise,  and  required  to  avoid  all  excitement  or  anger. 
The  king  enjoyed  his  usual  health  by  observing  those 
directions,  until  the  very  day  of  the  Crucifixion.  But 
the  fearful  phenomena  which  then  occurred  attracted 
his  attention,  and  he  inquired  if  Bacrach,  his  druid, 
could  divine  the  cause.  The  druid  consulted  his  ora- 
cles, and  informed  the  king  that  Jesus  Christ,  the  Son 
of  the  living  God,  was,  even  at  that  moment,  suffering 
death  at  the  hands  of  the  Jews.  "  What  crime  has  he 
committed  ? said  Conor.  "  None/'  replied  the  druid. 
"  Then  are  they  slaying  him  innocently?"  said  Conor. 
"  They  are,"  replied  the  druid.  It  was  too  great  a 
sorrow  for  the  noble  prince  ;  he  could  not  bear  that  the 
Son  of  God  should  die  unmourned  ;  and  rushing  wildly 
from  where  he  sat  to  a  neighboring  forest,  he  began  to 


THE  CATTLE  OF  MEAV. 


33 


hew  the  young  trees  down,  exclaiming:  ''Thus  would 
I  destroy  those  who  were  around  my  King  at  putting 
Him  to  death."  The  excitement  proved  fatal ;  and  the 
brave  and  good  King  Conor  MacNessa  died  avenging, 
in  his  own  wild  pagan  fashion,  the  death  of  his  God. 

Meav's  exploits  are  recorded  in  the  Historic  Tale  of 
"  Tain  bo  ChuailgneV'  which  is  to  Celtic  history  what 
the  myth  of  the  Argonautic  Expedition,  or  of  the  Seven 
against  Thebes,  is  to  Grecian.  Meav  was  married  first 
to  Conor;  but  the  marriage  was  not  a  happy  one,  and 
was  dissolved,  in  modern  parlance,  on  the  ground 
of  incompatibility.  In  the  meanwhile,  Meav's  three 
brothers  had  rebelled  against  their  father ;  and  though 
his  arms  were  victorious,  the  victory  did  not  secure 
peace.  The  men  of  Connaught  revolted  against  him, 
and  to  retain  their  allegiance  he  made  his  daughter 
Queen  of  Connaught,  and  gave  her  in  marriage  to  Ailill, 
a  powerful  chief  of  that  province.  This  prince,  how- 
ever, died  soon  after ;  and  Meav,  determined  for  once, 
at  least,  to  choose  a  husband  for  herself,  made  a  royal 
progress  to  Leinster,  where  Ross  Ruadh  held  his  court 
at  Naas.  She  selected  the  younger  son  of  this  mon- 
arch, who  bore  the  same  name  as  her  former  husband, 
and  they  lived  together  happily  as  queen  and  king 
consort  for  many  years.  On  one  occasion,  however, 
a  dispute  arose  about  their  respective  treasures,  and  this 
dispute  led  to  a  comparison  of  their  property.  The 
account  of  this,  and  the  subsequent  comparison,  is 
given  at  length  in  the  "Tain,"  and  is  a  valuable  reper- 
tory of  archaeological  information.  They  counted  their 
vessels,  metal  and  wooden  ;  they  counted  their  finger 
rings,  their  clasps,  their  thumb  rings,  their  diadems, 
and  their  gorgets  of  gold.  They  examined  their  many- 
colored  garments  of  crimson  and  blue,  of  black  and 
green,  yellow  and  mottled,  white  and  streaked.  All 
were  equal.  They  then  inspected  their  flocks  and 
herds,  swine  from  the  forests,  sheep  from  the  pasture 
lands,  and  cows  —  here  the  first  difference  arose.  It 
was  one  to  excite  Meav's  haughty  temper.  There  was 
a  young  bull  found  among  AilhTs  bovine  wealth  : 
it  had  been  calved  by  one  of  Meav's  cows  ;  but  "  not 
deeming  it  honorable  to  be  under  a  woman's  control, " 
it  had  attached  itself  to  AilnTs  herds.    Meav  was  not 


.  COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


a  lady  who  could  remain  quiet  under  such  provocation. 
She  summoned  her  chief  courier,  and  asked  him  if  he 
could  find  a  match  for  Finnbheannach  (the  white -horned). 
The  courier  declared  that  he  could  find  even  a  superior 
animal ;  and  at  once  set  forth  on  his  mission  suitably 
attended.  Meav  had  offered  the  most  liberal  rewards 
for  the  prize  she  so  much  coveted  ;  and  the  courier  soon 
arranged  with  Dare,  a  noble  of  large  estates,  who  pos- 
sessed one  of  the  valuable  breed.  A  drunken  quarrel, 
however,  disarranged  his  plans.  One  of  the  men 
boasted  that  if  Dare  had  not  given  the  bull  for  payment, 
he  should  have  been  compelled  to  give  it  by  force. 
Dare's  steward  heard  the  ill-timed  and  uncourteous 
boast.  He  flung  down  the  meat  and  drink  which  he 
had  brought  for  their  entertainment,  and  went  to  tell 
his  master  the  contemptuous  speech.  The  result  may 
be  anticipated.  Dare  refused  the  much-coveted  animal, 
and  Meav  proceeded  to  make  good  her  claim  by  force  of 
arms.  But  this  is  only  the  prologue  of  the  drama  ;  the 
details  would  fill  a  volume.  It  must  suffice  to  say,  that 
the  bulls  had  a  battle  of  their  own.  Finnbheannach  and 
Donn  Chuailgne  (the  Leinster  bull)  engaged  in  deadly 
combat,  which  is  described  with  the  wildest  flights  of 
poetic  diction.  The  poor  "  white  horn "  was  killed, 
and  Donn  Chuailgne,  who  had  lashed  himself  to  mad- 
ness, dashed  out  his  brains. 

Meav  lived  to  the  venerable  age  of  a  hundred.  Ac- 
cording to  Tighernach,  she  died  a.  d.  70,  but  the  chro- 
nology of  the  Four  Masters  places  her  demise  a  hundred 
years  earlier.  On  this  difference  of  calculation  depends 
the  monarch  who  is  to  be  assigned  as  reigning  in  Ire- 
land at  the  birth  of  Christ.  The  following  passage  is 
from  the  "  Book  of  Bally  mote,"  and  is  supposed  to  be 
taken  from  the  synchronisms  of  Flann  of  Monaster- 
boice  :  —  "  In  the  fourteenth  year  of  the  reign  of  Con- 
aire  and  of  Conchobar,  Mary  was  born;  and  in  the 
fourth  year  after  the  birth  of  Mary,  the  expedition 
of  the  Tain  bo  Chuailgne  took  place.  Eight  years  after 
the  expedition  of  the  Tain,  Christ  was  born." 

According  to  the  "Annals  of  the  Four  Masters," 
the  birth  of  Christ  took  place  in  the  eighth  year 
of  the  reign  of  Crinsthann  Niadhuair.  Under  the 
heading  of  the  age  of  Christ  9,  there  is  an  -account  of 


PROPOSED  INVASION  OF  IRELAND  BY  THE  ROMANS.  35 

a  wonderful  expedition  of  this  monarch,  and  of  all  thfc 
treasures  he  acquired  thereby.  His  "  adventures  "  is 
among  the  list  of  Historic  Tales  in  the  "  Book  of  Lein- 
ster,"  but,  unfortunately,  there  is  no  copy  of  this  tract 
in  existence.  It  was  probably  about  this  time  that  a 
recreant  Irish  chieftain  tried  to  induce  Agricola  to 
invade  Ireland.  But  the  Irish  Celts  had  extended  the 
fame  of  their  military  prowess  even  to  distant  lands, 
and  the  Roman  general  thought  it  better  policy  to  keep 
what  he  had.  than  to  riskdts  loss,  and,  perhaps,  obtain 
no  compensation.  Previous  to  Caesar's  conquest  of 
Britain,  the  Irish  had  fitted  out  several  expeditions  for 
the  plunder  of  that  country,  but  they  do  not  appear  to 
have  suffered  from  retaliation  until  the  reign  of  Egbert. 
It  is  evident,  however,  that  the  Britons  did  not  con- 
sider them  their  worst  enemies,  for  we  find  mention  of 
several  colonies  flying  to  the  Irish  shores  to  escape 
Eoman  tyranny,  and  these  colonies  were  hospitably 
received.  Tacitus  refers  thus  to  the  proposed  invasion 
of  Ireland  by  the  Roman  forces  :  "  In  the  fifth  year  of 
these  expeditions,  Agricola,  passing  over  in  the  first 
ship,  subdued  in  frequent  victories  nations  hitherto 
unknown.  He  stationed  troops  along  that  part  of 
Britain  which  looks  to  Ireland,  more  on  account  of  hope 
than  fear,  since  Ireland,  from  its  situation  between 
Britain  and  Spain,  and  opening  to  the  Gallic  Sea,  might 
well  connect  the  most  powerful  parts  of  the  empire 
with  reciprocal  advantage.  Its  extent,  compared  with 
Britain,  is  narrower,  but  exceeds  that  of  any  islands  of 
our  sea.  The  genius  and  habits  of  the  people,  and  the 
soil  and  climate  do  not  differ  much  from  those  of  Britain. 
Its  channels  and  ports  are  better  known  to  commerce 
and  to  merchants.  Agricola  gave  his  protection  to  one 
of  its  petty  kings,  who  had  been  expelled  by  faction  ; 
and  with  a  show  of  friendship,  he  retained  him  for  his 
own  purposes.  I  often  heard  him  say,  that  Ireland 
could  be  conquered  and  held  with  one  legion  and  a 
small  reserve ;  and  such  a  measure  would  have  its 
advantages,  even  as  regards  Britain,  if  Roman  power 
were  extended  on  every  side,  and  liberty  taken  away, 
as  it  were,  from  the  view  of  the  latter  island. ;; 

The  proper  name  of  the  recreant  "Regulus7'  has  not 
been  discovered,  so  that  his  treachery  must  be  trans- 


36  COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 

nritted  anonymously  to  posterity.  Sir  John  Davis,  how- 
ever, has  well  observed,  "  that,  if  Agricola  had  at- 
tempted the  conquest  of  Ireland  with  a  far  greater 
army,  he  would  have  found  himself  deceived  in  his  con- 
jecture." William  of  Neuburg  has  also  remarked,  that 
though  the  Romans  harassed  the- Britons  for  three  cen- 
turies after  this  event,  Ireland  never  was  invaded  by 
them,  even  when  they  held  dominion  of  the  Orkney 
Islands,  and  that  it  yielded  to  no  foreign  power  until 
the  year  1171.  Indeed,  the  .Scots  and  Picts  gave  their 
legions  quite  sufficient  occupation  defending  the  ram- 
parts of  Adrian  and  Antoninus,  to  •  deter  them  from 
attempting  to  obtain  more,  when  they  could  so  hardly 
hold  what  they  already  possessed. 

The  insurrection  of  the  Aitheach  Tuatha,  or  Attacotti, 
is  the  next  event  of  importance  in  Irish  history.  Their 
plans  were  deeply  and  wisely  laid,  and  promised  the 
success  they  obtained. 

According  to  one  account,  these  Attacotti  were  the 
"unfree"  tribes,  or  plebeians,  and  mainly  descended 
from  the  Firbolgs.  According  to  another  account,  they 
were  Milesians,  that  is,  a  part  of  the  great  tribe  who 
then  possessed  and  mainly  peopled  Ireland ;  but  they 
were  of  the  lower  classes,  and  cruelly  oppressed  by 
their  masters.  The  word  Aitheach  Tuatha  means  rent- 
payers,  or  rent-paying  tribes  or  people. 

Another  revolt  of  the  Attacotti  took  place  in  the 
reign  of  Fiacha  of  the  White  Cattle.  He  was  killed  by 
the  provincial  kings,  at  the  slaughter  of  Magh  Bolg. 
Elim,  one  of  the  perpetrators  of  this  outrage,  obtained 
the  crown,  but  his  reign  was  singularly  unprosperous  ; 
and  "  Ireland  was  without  corn,  without  milk,  without 
fruit,  without  fish,  and  without  any  other  great  advan- 
tage, since  the  Aitheach  Tuatha  had  killed  Fiacha  Fin- 
nolaidh  in  the  slaughter  of  Magh  Bolg,  till  the  time  of 
Tuathal  Teachtmar." 

Tuathal  was  the  son  of  a  former  legitimate  monarch, 
and  had  been  invited  to  Ireland  by  a  powerful  party. 
He  was  perpetually  at  war  with  the  Attacotti,  but  at 
last  established  himself  firmly  on  the  throne,  by  exact- 
ing an  oath  from  the  people,  "  by  the  sun,  moon,  and 
elements,"  that  his  posterity  should  not  be  deprived  of 
the  sovereignty.    This  oath  was  taken  at  Tara,  where 


THE  B0R0MEAN  TRIBUTE. 


3f 


he  had  convened  a  general  assembly,  as  had  been  cus- 
tomary with  his  predecessors  at  the  commencement  of 
each  reign  ;  but  it  was  held  by  him  with  more  than 
usual  state.  His  next  act  was  to  take  a  small  portion 
of  land  from  each  of  the  four  provinces,  forming  what 
is  now  the  present  county  of  Meath,  and  retaining  it  as 
the  mensal  portion  of  the  Ard-Righ,  or  supreme  mon- 
arch. On  each  of  these  portions  he  erected  a  palace  for 
the  king  of  every  province,  details  of  which  will  be 
given  when  we  come  to  that  period  of  our  history  which 
refers  to  the  destruction  of  Tara.  Tuathal  had  at  this 
time  two  beautiful  and  marriageable  daughters,  named 
Fithir  and  Dairine.  Eochaidh,  King  of  Leinster  married 
the  younger  daughter,  Dairine,  and  carried  her  to  his  pal- 
ace at  Naas,  in  Leinster.  Some  time  after,  his  people  per- 
suaded him  that  he  had  made  a  bad  selection,  and  that 
the  elder  was  the  better  of  the  two  sisters  ;  upon  which 
Eochaidh  determined  by  stratagem  to  obtain  the  other 
daughter  also.  For  this  purpose  he  shut  the  young 
queen  up  in  a  secret  apartment  of  his  palace,  and  gave 
out  a  report  that  she  was  dead.  He  then  repaired,  appar- 
ently in  great  grief,  to  Tara,  informed  the  monarch  that 
his  daughter  was  dead,  and  demanded  her  sister  in  mar- 
riage. Tuathal  gave  his  consent,  and  the  false  king 
returned  home  with  his  new  bride.  Soon  after  her 
arrival  at  Naas,  her  sister  escaped  from  her  confine- 
ment, and  suddenly  and  unexpectedly  encountered  the 
prince  and  Fithir.  In  a  moment  she  divined  the  truth, 
and  had  the  additional  anguish  of  seeing  her  sister,  who 
was  struck  with  horror  and  shame,  fall  dead  before  her 
face.  The  death  of  the  unhappy  princess,  and  the 
treachery  of  her  husband,  was  too  much  for  the  young 
queen  ;  she  returned  to  her  solitary  chamber,  and  in  a 
very  short  time  died  of  a  broken  heart. 

The  insult  offered  to  his  daughters,  and  their  untimely 
death,  roused  the  indignation  of  the  pagan  monarch, 
and  was  soon  bitterly  avenged.  At  the  head  of  a  pow- 
erful force,  he  burned  and  ravaged  Leinster  to  its 
utmost  boundary,  and  then  compelled  its  humbled  and 
terror-stricken  people  to  bind  themselves  and  their 
descendants  for  ever  to  the  payment  of  a  triennial 
tribute  to  the  monarch  of  Erin,  which,  from  the  great 
number  of  cows  exacted  by  it,  obtained  the  name  of  the 


88 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


"Boromean  Tribute  " — bo  being  the  Irish  for  cow. 
So  runs  the  institutional  legend. 

The  tribute  is  thus  described  in  the  old  Annals : 

The  men  of  Leinster  were  obliged  to  pay 

To  Tuathal,  and  all  the  monarchs  after  him, 

Three-score  hundred  of  the  fairest  cows, 

And  three-score  hundred  ounces  of  pure  silver, 

And  three-score  hundred  mantles  richly  woven, 

And  three  score  hundred  of  the  fattest  hogs, 

And  three-score  hundred  of  the  largest  sheep, 

And  three-score  hundred  cauldrons  strong  and  polished. 

It  is  elsewhere  described  as  consisting  of  five  thou- 
sand ounces  of  silver,  five  thousand  mantles,  five  thou- 
sand fat  cows,  five  thousand  fat  hogs,  five  thousand 
wethers,  and  five  thousand  vessels  of  brass  or  bronze 
for  the  king's  laving,  with  men  and  maidens  for  his 
service. 

The  levying  of  the  tribute  was  the  cause  of  periodical 
and  sanguinary  wars,  from  the  time  of  Tuathal  until 
the  reign  of  Fuinachta  the  Festive.  It  was  abolished 
about  the  year  680,  at  the  entreaty  of  St.  Moling.  It 
was,  however,  again  revived  and  exacted  by  Brian 
Boru  in  the  eleventh  century,  to  punish  the  Leinster 
men  for  their  adherence  to  the  Danish  cause. 

Tuathal  reigned  for  thirty  years,  and  is  said  to  have 
fought  no  less  than  a  hundred  and  thirty -three  battles 
with  the  Attacotti.  He  was  at  last  slain  by  his  suc- 
cessor Nial,  who,  after  a  reign  of  four  years,  was  slain 
by  TuathaPs  son,  Felemy,  or  the  law-maker ;  Felemy 
having  substituted  the  law  of  eric,  or  fine,  for  the  law 
of  retaliation. 

Felemy  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  Conn  of  the 
(t  Hundred  battles."  His  exploits  are  a  famous  theme 
with  the  bards,  and  a  poem  on  his  "  Birth  "  forms  part 
of  the  "  Liber  Flavus  Fergusorum,"  a  manuscript  vol- 
ume of  the  fifteenth  century.  In  his  reign  is  also 
recorded  the  completion  of  five  great  roads.  One  of 
these  highways,  the  Eiscir  Riada,  extended  from  the 
declivity  on  which  Dublin  castle  now  stands,  to  the 
peninsula  of  Marey,  at  the  head  of  Galway  Bay.  It 
divided  Conn's  half  of  Ireland  from  the  half  possessed 
by  Eoghan  Mor,  with  whom  he  lived  in  the  usual  state 
of  internecine  feud,  which  characterized  the  reigns  of 
this  early  period.  One  of  the  principal  quarrels  be- 
tween these  monarchs  was  caused  by  a  complaint 


THE  REIGN  OP  CORMAC. 


39 


which  Eoghan  made  of  the  shipping  arrangements  in 
Dublin.  Conn's  half  (the  northern  side)  was  preferred, 
and  Eoghan  demanded  a  fair  division.  They  decided 
their  claims  at  the  battle  of  Magh  Lena.  Eoghan  was 
assisted  by  a  Spanish  chief,  whose  sister  he  had  mar- 
ried. But  the  Iberian  and  his  Celtic  brother-in-law 
were  both  slain,  and  the  mounds  are  still  shown  which 
cover  their  remains. 

The  five  roads  were  named  Slighe  Asail,  Slighe 
Moyra,  Slighe  Cualann,  Slighe  Dula,  and  Slighe  Mor. 
These  roads  all  branched  out  from  Tara,  then  the  seat 
of  Irish  government.  Slighe  Asail  went  westward  in 
the  direction  of  Lough  Owel,  near  Mullingar  in  West- 
meath.  Slighe  Moyra  led  into  the  north  of  Ireland,  but 
the  exact  line  of  direction  has  not  been  discovered. 
Slighe  Cualann  has  been  identified  as  probably  the  same 
as  the  present  road  from  Tara  to  Dublin  and  Bray. 
Slighe  Mor,  the  great  road,  was  a  western  line,  deter- 
mined by  the  position  of  the  Eiscir  Riada,  a  continuous 
line  of  gravel  hills,  extending  from  Dublin  to  Claren- 
bridge,  in  the  county  Gal  way.  Slighe  Dula  was  the 
great  south-western  road  of  ancient  Ireland,  extending 
from  the  southern  side  of  Tara  Hill  in  the  direction  of 
Ossory. 

Conn  was  succeeded  by  Conaire  II.,  the  father  of 
the  three  Cairbres,  who  were  progenitors  of  important 
tribes.  Cairbre  Muse  gave  his  name  to  six  districts  in 
Munster. 

The  reign  of  Cormac  MacAirt  is  unquestionably  the 
most  celebrated  of  all  the  pagan  monarchs.  During 
his  early  years  he  had  been  compelled  to  conceal  him- 
self among  his  mother's  friends  in  Connaught ;  but  the 
severe  rule  of  the  usurper  MacCon  excited  a  desire  for 
his  removal,  and  the  friends  of  the  young  prince  were 
not  slow  to  avail  themselves  of  the  popular  feeling. 
He,  therefore,  appeared  unexpectedly  at  Tara,  and  hap- 
pened to  arrive  when  the  monarch  was  giving  judg- 
ment in  an  important  case,  which  is  thus  related : 
Some  sheep,  the  property  of  a  widow  residing  at  Tara, 
had  strayed  into  the  queen's  private  lawn,  and  eaten 
the  grass.  They  were  captured,  and  the  case  was 
brought  before  the  king.  He  decided  that  the  tres* 
passers  should  be  forfeited  ;  but  Cormac  exclaimed  that 
his  sentence  was  unjust,  and  declared  that  as  the  sheep 


40 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


had  only  eaten  the  fleece  of  the  land,  they  should  oniy 
forfeit  their  own  fleece.  The  vox  populi  applauded  the 
decision.  MacCon  started  from  his  seat,  and  exclaimed  : 
"That  is  the  judgment  of  a  king."  At  the  same 
moment  he  recognized  the  prince,  and  commanded  that 
he  should  be  seized  ;  but  he  had  already  escaped.  The 
people  now  recognized  their  rightful  king,  and  revolted 
against  the  usurper,  who  was  driven  into  Munster. 
Cormac  assumed  the  reins  of  government  at  Tara,  and 
thus  entered  upon  his  brilliant  and  important  career,  it 
is  said,  a.  d.  227. 

Cormac  commenced  his  government  with  acts  of 
'severity,  which  were,  perhaps,  necessary  to  consolidate 
his  power.  This  being  once  firmly  established,  he 
devoted  himself  ardently  to  the  task  of  regulating  and 
civilizing  his  dominions.  He  collected  the  national 
laws,  and  formed  a  code  which  remained  in  force  until 
the  English  invasion,  and  was  observed  for  many  cen- 
turies after  outside  the  Pale.  The  bards  dwell  with 
manifest  unction  on  the  "fruit  and  fatness"  of  the  land 
in  his  time,  and  describe  him  as  the  noblest  and  most 
bountiful  of  all  princes. 

The  compilation  of  the  "  Saltair  of  Tara"  is  attrib- 
uted to  this  monarch,  and  even  the  Christian  annalists 
proclaim  his  praises.  The  poet  Maelmura,  who  lived 
in  the  eighth  century,  styles  him,  "  Ceolach,"  or  "  the 
Musical,"  and  Kenneth  O'Hartigan,  who  died  a.  d.  973, 
gives  a  glowing  description  of  his  magnificence,  and  of 
his  royal  palace  at  Tara.  O'Flaherty  quotes  a  poem, 
which  he  says  contains  an  account  of  three  schools, 
instituted  by  Cormac  at  Tara ;  one  for  military  disci- 
pline, one  for  history,  and  the  third  for  jurisprudence. 
The  Four  Masters  say :  "It  was  this  Cormac,  son  of 
Art,  also,  that  collected  the  chronicles  of  Ireland  to 
Teamhair  (Tara),  and  ordered  them  to  write  the  chron- 
icles of  Ireland  in  one  book,  which  was  named  the 
"  Saltair  of  Teamhair."  In  that  book  were  (entered) 
the  coeval  exploits  and  synchronisms  of  the  kings 
of  Ireland  with  the  kings  and  emperors  of  the  world, 
and  of  the  kings  of  the  provinces  with  the  monarchs 
of  Ireland.  In  it  was  also  written  what  the  monarchs  of 
Ireland  were  entitled  to  (receive)  from  the  provincial 
kings,  and  the  rents  and  dues  of  the  provincial  kings 
from  their  subjects,  from  the  noble  to  the  subaltern. 


FINN  MACCOOLE. 


41 


In  it,  also,  were  (described)  the  boundaries  and  mears 
of  Ireland  from  shore  to  shore,  from  the  provinces  to 
the  cantred,  from  the  cantred  to  the  townland,  from  the 
townland  to  the  traighedh  of  land."  Although  the 
"  Saltair  of  Tara"  has  disappeared  from  the  national 
records,  a  law  tract,  called  the  "Book  of  Acaill,"  is 
still  in  existence,  which  is  attributed  to  this  king.  It 
is  always  found  annexed  to  a  Law  Treatise  by  Cennfae- 
lad  the  Learned,  who  died  a.  d.  677.  In  an  ancient 
MS.  in  Trinity  College,  Dublin  (Class,  H.  L.  15,  p. 
149),  it  is  stated  that  it  was  the  custom,  at  the  inaugu- 
ration of  Irish  chiefs,  to  read  the  "Instructions  of  the 
Kings"  (a  work  ascribed  to  Cormac)  and  his  Laws. 

There  is  a  tradition  that  Cormac  became  a  Christian 
before  his  death.  In  the  thirty- ninth  year  of  his  reign, 
one  of  his  eyes  was  thrust  out  by  a  spear,  and  he 
retired  in  consequence  to  one  of  those  peaceful  abodes 
of  learning  which  were  so  carefully  fostered  in  ancient 
Erin.  The  Brehon  Law  required  that  the  king  should 
have  no  personal  blemish ;  and  Cormac  accordingly 
vacated  the  throne.  He  died  a.  d.  266,  at  Cleitach, 
near  Stackallen  Bridge,  on  the  south  bank  of  the 
Boyne.  It  is  said  that  he  was  choked  by  a  salmon 
bone,  and  that  this  happened  through  the  contrivances 
of  the  druids,  who  wished  to  avenge  themselves  on  him 
for  his  rejection  of  their  superstitions. 

The  reign  of  Cormac  was  made  still  more  remarkable 
by  the  exploits  of  his  son-in-law,  the  famous  Finn  Mac- 
Coole.  Finn  was  famous,  both  as  a  poet  and  warrior. 
Indeed,  poetical  qualifications  were  considered  essential 
to  obtain  a  place  in  the  select  militia  of  which  he  was 
the  last  commander.  The  courtship  of  the  poet-warrior 
with  the  princess  Ailbhe,  Cormac's  daughter,  is  related 
in  one  of  the  ancient  Historic  Tales  called  "  Toch- 
marca,"  or  Courtships.  The  lady  is  said  to  have  been 
the  wisest  woman  of  her  time,  and  the  wooing  is 
described  in  the  form  of  conversations,  which  savor 
more  of  a  trial  of  skill  in  ability  and  knowledge,  than  of 
the  soft  utterances  which  distinguish  such  narratives 
in  modern  days.  It  is  supposed  that  the  Fenian  force 
which  he  commanded  was  modelled  after  the  fashion 
of  the  Roman  legions  ;  but  its  loyalty  is  more  question- 
able, for  it  was  eventually  disbanded  for  insubordina- 
tion, although  the  exploits  of  its  heroes  are  a  favorite 


42 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


topic  with  the  bards.  The  Fenian  poems  on  which 
Macpherson  founded  his  celebrated  forgery,  are  as- 
cribed to  Finn's  sons,  Oi'sin  and  Fergus  the  Eloquent, 
and  to  his  kinsman  Caeilte,  as  well  as  to  himself.  Five 
poems  only  are  ascribed  to  him,  but  these  are  found  in 
manuscripts  of  considerable  antiquity.  The  poems  of 
Oisin  were  selected  by  the  Scotch  writer  for  his  grand 
experiment.  He  gave  a  highly  poetical  translation  of 
what  purported  to  be  some  ancient  and  genuine  com- 
position, but,  unfortunately,  for  his  veracity,  he  could 
not  produce  the  original.  Some  of  the  real  composi- 
tions of  the  Fenian  hero  are,  however,  still  extant  in 
the  "  Book  of  Leinster,"  as  well  as  other  valuable 
Fenian  poems.  There  are  also  some  Fenian  tales  in 
prose,  of  which  the  most  remarkable  is  that  of  the 
"  Pursuit  of  Diarmaid  and  Grainne" — a  legend  which 
has  left  its  impress  in  every  portion  of  the  island  to  the 
present  day.  Finn,  in  his  old  age,  asked  the  hand 
of  Grainne,  the  daughter  of  Cormac  MacAirt ;  but 
the  lady  being  young,  preferred  a  younger  lover.  To 
effect  her  purpose,  she  drugged  the  guest-cup  so 
effectually,  that  Finn,  and  all  the  guests  invited  with 
him,  were  plunged  into  a  profound  slumber  after  they 
had  partaken  of  it.  Oisin  and  Diarmaid  alone  escaped, 
and  to  them  the  lady  Grianne  confided  her  grief.  As  true 
knights,  they  were  bound  to  rescue  her  from  her  dilemma. 
Oisin  could  scarcely  dare  to  brave  his  father's  ven- 
geance, but  Diarmaid  at  once  fled  with  the  lady.  A 
pursuit  followed,  which  extended  all  over  Ireland,  dur- 
ing which  the  young  couple  always  escaped.  So  deeply 
is  the  tradition  engraven  in  the  popular  mind,  that 
some  cromlechs  are  still  called  the  "Beds  of  Diarmaid 
and  Grainne/'  and  shown  as  the  resting-places  of  the 
fugitive  lovers. 

Some  romantic  stories  are  also  related  of  Cormac 
himself.  It  is  said  that  when  a  young  man  he  was  wan- 
dering through  the  woods  near  Cennanus,  the  present 
Sligo,  and  that  he  met  there  a  fair  young  damsel  called 
Ethni.  She  was  the  foster-child  o.f  a  Leinster  exile, 
who  had  exhausted  all  his  wealth  in  hospitality,  until 
his  flocks  were  so  reduced  that  he  had  only  seven  cows 
and  one  bull  left.  Ethni  devoted  herself  to  the  care  of 
these  animals  in  the  retirement  which  her  foster-parents 
had  chosen,  and  the  king  watched  her  fulfilling  her 


C0RMAC7S  STATE  AT  TARA. 


43 


domestic  duties  unperceived.  The  conversation  be- 
tween Cormac  and  the  lady  is  given  at  considerable 
length,  and  it  is  also  recorded  that,  after  their  marriage, 
Cormac  bestowed  considerable  wealth  upon  his  wife's 
foster-father.  Cormac  had  ten  daughters,  two  of  whom, 
Grainne  and  Ailbhe,  have  been  already  mentioned. 
Cox*mac  bestowed  the  latter  upon  Finn  MacCumhaili 
in  marriage  when  Grianne  fled  with  his  lieutenant. 

Cormac  maintained  a  princely  retinue  and  royal  state 
at  Tara.  In  the  great  hall  which  he  erected,  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  warriors  stood  in  his  presence  when  he 
sat  down  to  the  banquet.  One  hundred  and  fifty  cup- 
bearers also  attended,  with  as  many  cups  of  silver  and 
gold.  The  latter  part  of  this  account  might  be  deemed 
legendary,  were  there  not  so  many  remains  to  prove  the 
highly  ornamental  character  and  the  rich  quality  of 
early  Irish  art.  Cormac  also  ordained  that  a  prince 
of  the  royal  blood,  abrehon,  a  druid,  a  physician,  a  bard, 
a  historian,  a  musician,  and  three  stewards,  should 
attend  every  Irish  monarch.  His  entertainments  also 
were  on  a  scale  of  princely  liberality. 

Nial  of  the  Nine  Hostages,  and  Dathi,  are  the  last 
pagan  monarchs  who  demand  special  notice.  In  the 
year  322,  Fiacha  was  slain  by  the  three  Collas,  and  a 
few  short-lived  monarchs  succeeded  In  378,  Crimh- 
tharin  was  poisoned  by  his  sister,  who  hoped  that  her 
eldest  son,  Brian,  might  obtain  the  royal  power.  Her 
attempt  failed,  although  she  sacrificed  herself  for  its 
accomplishment,  by  taking  the  poisoned  cup  to  remove 
her  brother's  suspicions ;  and  Nial  of  the  Nine  Host- 
ages, the  son  of  her  husband  by  a  former  wife,  suc- 
ceeded to  the  coveted  dignity.  This  monarch  distin- 
guished himself  by  predatory  warfare  against  Albion 
and  Gaul.  The  "groans"  of  the  Britons  testify  to  his 
success  in  that  quarter  ;  and  the  Latin  poet,  Claudian, 
gives  evidence  that  troops  were  sent  by  Stilicho,  the 
general  of  Theodosius  the  Great,  to  repel  his  successful 
forays.  His  successor,  Dathi,  was  killed  by  lightning 
at  the  foot  of  the  Alps.  Donald  MacFirbis  states,  from 
the  records  of  his  ancestors,  that  the  body  was  carried 
home  to  Ireland  and  buried  at  Rathcorghan,  where  his 
grave  was  marked  by  a  red  pillar-stone 


44 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE  RELIGION,  LANGUAGE,  LAWS,  ARCHITECTURE, 
DOMESTIC  CUSTOMS,  FOOD,  DRESS,  OCCUPATIONS, 
AND  MUSIC  OF  THE  PAGAN  IRISH. 

FROM  THE  EARLIEST  TRADITIONS  TO  A.  D.  428. 

There  is  considerable  difficulty  in  ascertaining  pre- 
cisely what  form  of  religious  belief  prevailed  in  pagan 
Ireland.  As  St.  Patrick  and  his  disciples  carefully 
destroyed  all  vestiges  of  idolatry,  whether  written  or 
graven,  information  can  be  obtained  only  by  inductions 
drawn  from  the  few  well-authenticated  accounts.  The 
earliest  traditions  represent  the  Irish  Celt  as  a  sun- wor- 
shipper, and  indicate  an  Eastern  origin  for  this  purest 
form  of  paganism.  The  frequent  erection  of  pillar- 
stones  also  points  in  the  same  direction.  Hence, 
probably,  the  uniform  tradition  that  the  Lia  Fail,  or 
Stone  of  Destiny,  which  the  late  Dr.  O'Donovan,  and 
many  of  the  most  careful  Irish  antiquarians  believe  still 
to  exist  at  Tara,  is  identical  with  the  stone  which 
Jacob  used  as  a  pillow  when  he  beheld  the  vision  of 
the  angels.  It  is  quite  possible  that  the  stone  may 
have  been  an  object  of  reverence  or  worship,  and  that 
the  first  colonists  brought  it  with  them  from  the  East. 
Whether  they  brought  the  tradition  of  its  origin,  or 
whether  it  was  put  forward  in  Christian  times,  is  quite 
another  question. 

There  is  unquestionable  proof  that  fire-worship  was 
continued  until  the  time  of  St.  Patrick,  and  that  some 
kind  of  idol- worship  had  been  introduced  some  centu- 
ries before,  and  was  also  practised  when  the  Christian 
missionaries  first  visited  Ireland.  The  indications  of 
fire-worship  remain  in  the  Celtic  name  for  the  first  day 
of  summer,  Beltinne,  which  is  thus  explained  :  —  <l  Bel- 
tinne,  the  lucky  fire,  that  is,  two  fires  which  used  to  be 
made  by  the  law-givers,  or  druids,  with  great  incanta- 


THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  PAGAN  IRISH. 


45 


tions,  and  they  used  to  drive  the  cattle  between  them, 
to  guard  against  the  diseases  of  each  year.  Bel  was  the 
name  of  an  idol  god.  It  was  on  that  day  that  the  first- 
lings of  every  kind  of  cattle  used  to  be  exhibited  as  in 
the  possession  of  Bel.1 

When  St.  Patrick  visited  Tara  the  pagan  king  was 
celebrating  some  fire  festival,  though,  according  to  the 
best  authorities,  this  festival  was  not  the  principal  one, 
known  as  the  Beltinne.  The  season  in  which  that  cere- 
mony was  performed  has  not  yet  been  discovered,  as  no 
special  time  is  named  in  the  old  annals ;  but  it  was 
probably  the  first  of  May,  for  that  day  is  still  called  La 
Bealtinne  by  the  Irish-speaking  Celt.  In  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Dublin,  fires  are  lighted  on  that  day,  as  well  as 
on  the  twenty-fourth  of  June,  the  day  on  which  the  old 
pagan  custom  is  generally  observed  throughout  the 
island. 

Certain  groves  and  trees  were  also  reverenced, 
though  there  is  no  evidence  to  show  any  special  wor- 
ship of  the  oak  or  mistletoe.  In  the  "  Brehon  Laws" 
a  certain  fine  is  mentioned  for  injuring  the  trees  of 
sacred  groves ;  and  in  an  ancient  manuscript  glossary 
the  name  Nemed,  given  to  a  poet,  is  said  to  be  akin 
to  the  Latin  Nemus,  a  grove,  as  it  was  in  Fidnemeds 
(sacred  groves)  that  the  poets  composed  their  works. 

The  rowan  and  blackthorn  trees  were  deemed  espec- 
ially sacred  ;  and  one  of  the  Celtic  druidical  ordeals 
on  record  requires  a  woman,  who  wishes  to  clear  her 
character,  to  rub  her  tongue  upon  a  brass  adze,  which 
should  be  heated  and  reddened  in  a  fire  made  of  the 
rowan  tree  or  the  blackthorn. 

A  number  of  curious  restrictions  are  also  on  record, 
by  which  the  Irish  pagan  kings  were  bound  to  observe 
certain  practices,  and  to  avoid  certain  circumstances. 
Such  restrictions  are  not  without  parallels  in  the  observ- 
ances of  other  nations,  and  many  maxims  of  a  similar 
nature  are  scrupulously  observed,  even  by  the  educated 
classes,  in  our  own  times.  Thus,  the  monarch  of  Ire- 
land was  forbidden  to  alight  on  a  Wednesday  in  Magh 
Breagh,  to  go  on  a  Monday  into  North  Teabltha,  or  to 
go  in  a  ship  upon  the  water  on  the  day  of  the  Bealtinne. 

1  See  The  Book  of  Bights,  edited  by  Dr.  O'Donovan,  for  the  Celtic 
Society,  and  Petrie's  Antiquities  of  Tara  Hill. 


46 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


The  classical  reader  will  recall  observances  of  a  like 
nature,  as  frequently  mentioned  by  the  Latin  poets. 

The  Irish  Celts  also  had  their  stone  circles,  resem- 
bling those  of  Stonehenge  in  England,  Carnac  in  Brit- 
tany, and  Rutzlingen  in  Hanover.  It  is  not,  however, 
as  yet  quite  certain  whether  these  mystic  circles  in  Ire- 
land were  sepulchral  enclosures  surrounding  tumuli  or 
cromlechs,  or  were  used  for  other  purposes.  They 
will,  therefore,  be  referred  to  the  section  treating  of 
this  subject. 

Funeral  rites  were  observed  with  great  care,  and 
much  respect  was  shown  to  the  remains  of  deceased 
heroes.  A  warrior  and  a  hero  were  in  those  days  con- 
vertible terms.  Mortuary  urns  are  among  the  most 
numerous  class  of  remains  which  have  been  discovered 
in  Ireland,  and  exhibited  various  kinds  and  degrees  of 
artistic  skill.  They  have  been  found  singly  in  small 
Cists,  or  stone  chambers,  or  collectively  in  earthen 
mounds ;  sometimes,  under  such  circumstances,  even 
to  the  amount  of  one  hundred.  The  positions  vary  in 
which  these  urns  are  found  —  some  are  placed  erect, 
and  some  inverted.  They  contain  fragments  of  bones, 
which  have  been  evidently  subject  to  the  action  of  fire, 
and  as  charred  wood  and  vitrified  stones  are  frequently 
found  in  the  cromlechs,  it  is  probable  that  cremation 
took  place  upon  the  spot.  Cremation,  however,  was 
not  a  rule,  for  there  is  evidence  that  some  bodies  were 
buried  clothed  in  the  costume  of  the  period,  and  deco- 
rated with  the  ornaments  and  weapons  suitable  to  their 
rank.  The  posture  was  either  sitting  or  recumbent. 
Soon  after  the  introduction  of  Christianity,  it  is  recorded 
that  the  body  of  Laeghaire  was  interred  with  his  shield 
of  silver  in  the  royal  bath  at  Tara,  with  his  face  to  the 
south,  as  if  fighting  with  the  Leinster  men. 

The  Celtic  dialects  belong  to  the  great  Indo-Ger- 
manic,  or  Aryan,  family  of  languages.  As  each  suc- 
cessive migration  departed  from  the  parent  stock,  it 
took  with  it  the  parent  language  in  the  form  into  which 
it  had  been  altered  by  modification  or  development 
during  the  period  which  had  elapsed  from  the  preceding 
migration.  The  migration  which  preceded  would  there- 
fore have  some  slight  difference  in  its  forms  of  speech, 
and  would  also  have  had  its  language  acted  upon  more 


THE  CELTIC  LANGUAGE  AND  LETTERS.  47 


or  less  from  without,  for  the  waves  of  varied  tongues 
act  on  each  other  as  the  ocean  wave  on  the  boulder  by 
the  sea-shore.  Each  swarm  from  the  parent  hive  took 
with  it  the  parent  language,  and'  preserved  it  in  the 
main,  so  that  certain  great  families  of  languages  can 
be  traced  at  once,  by  (1)  marking  the  common  words 
which  express  domestic  occupations  and  the  names  of 
articles  in  ordinary  use  ;  and  (2)  by  removing  the  ter- 
minations or  inflections  of  nouns,  and  the  tenses  of 
verbs,  and  reducing  words  to  their  roots,  when  a  com- 
mon form  will  be  discovered.  The  influence  of  other 
families  of  languages  on  the  Celtic  dialects,  in  conse- 
quence of  intercommunication,  is  evidenced  in  the  fact 
that  the  Irish  Celtic  has  greater  affinity  with  the  Latin, 
the  Welsh  Celtic  with  the  Greek,  while  the  Celtic 
itself  is  a  still  older  branch  of  the  undiscovered  mother 
tongue  ;  for  the  Sanscrit,  allowed,  until  lately,  to  claim 
this  honor,  is  now  relegated  to  the  place  of  a  congener 
to  the  other  classes  of  the  Aryan  family.  It  takes,  how- 
ever, the  lead  in  philological  importance,  partly  from  its 
presumed  close  resemblance  to  the  unknown  primitive 
tongue,  and  partly  from  the  regularity  of  its  structure. 

Pritchard  observes  that  a  great  number  of  Celtic 
words,  if  not  the  greater  number,  may  be  reduced  to 
monosyllabic  words,  if  stripped  of  their  affixes  and  suf- 
fixes, and  that  these  words,  always  verbs,  are  closely 
connected  with  roots  found  in  Sanscrit.  Modern  phi- 
lologists have  placed  the  science  on  its  true  basis  by 
resting  their  inductions  and  classifications  on  grammat- 
ical forms,  and  discarding  the  old  and  most  imperfect 
method  of  merely  observing  phonic  affinities. 

Professor  Max  Miiller  remarks  that  the  Celts  were  the 
first  of  the  Aryans  who  arrived  in  Europe,  and  Pritch- 
ard dates  the  first  separation  at  about  three  thousand 
years  before  the  Christian  era. 

The  Irish  alphabet  consists  of  seventeen  letters, 
which,  like  the  Hebrew,  have  distinctive  names,  and 
bear  also  a  meaning  apart  from  their,  use  as  the  nomen- 
clature of  each  letter.  But  whereas  the  Hebrew  names 
of  letters  bear,  as  a  series,  no  special  signification, 
there  is  a  marked  significance  in  the  Celtic,  the  name 
of  each  letter  being  also  the  name  of  some  tree  indige- 
nous to  Ireland.    Hence  it  has  been  supposed  that  the 


48 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


trees  were  named  by  early  colonists  after  the  letters. 
The  whole  subject  is,  however,  too  much  open  to  con- 
jectures which  may  be  false,  and  conclusions  whose 
premises  may  be  some  day  proved  to  be  untenable, 
to  admit  of  any  definite  statements.  The  letters  were 
named  thus  :  — 


1.  B.  Beith 

2.  L.  Luis 

3.  F.  Fearn 

4.  S.  Suil 

5.  N.  Nion 

6.  D.  Duir 

7.  T.  Teine 

8.  C.  Coll. 

9.  M.  Muin 


Birch 

Mountain  Ash 

Alder 

Wrillow 

Ash 

Oak 

Hazel 
Vine 


10.  G.  Govt 

11.  P.  Peth 

12.  R.  Ruis 

13.  A.  Aihn 

14.  O.  Onn 

15.  U.  Ur 

16.  E.  Eadha 

17.  I.  Eaya 


Ivy- 
Elder 
Fir  Tree 
Broom. 
Heath 
Aspen 
lew. 


Some  authorities  add  the  letter  H,  but  it  is  used  merely 
to  indicate  the  aspirated  form  of  other  letters,  and 
never  as  an  independent  radical  letter.  The  chief 
distinctive  characteristics  of  the  Celtic  language  are 
(1)  a  euphonic  principle  which  modifies  the  vowels 
of  a  word ;  (2)  each  consonant  has  a  twofold  sound, 
broad  and  slender.  The  Irish  rule  of  "  slender  to  slen- 
der, and  broad  to  broad, "  is  very  similar  to  the  law  of 
vocal  harmony  in  the  Finnic-Tartarian,  or  northern  fam- 
ily of  languages.  The  slender  vowels  are  i,  e,  and  the 
broad  a,  o,  u. 

The  present  spoken  Irish  language  has  changed  so 
considerably  in  pronunciation,  and  especially  in  gram- 
matical structure,  by  the  addition  of  case  endings  to 
nouns,  that  a  modern  Irish-speaking  person  would 
not  understand  the  ancient  written  language,  and-  the 
pure  ancient  Celtic  manuscripts  cannot  be  read  by  an 
ordinary  Celtic  scholar.  But  the  value  of  these  manu- 
scripts to  the  philologist  has  been  most  promptly  recog- 
nized by  German  scholars,  of  which  abundant  evidence 
is  given  by  Zeiiss  in  his  "  Grammatica  Celtica,"  and  by 
Bopp  in  his  "  Glossarium  Comparativum  Linguae  San- 
scritae," 

The  Ogham  alphabet  is  supposed  to  have  been  in  use 
amongst  the  Pagan  Irish  Celts,  by  those  who  believe 
that  they  had  some  knowledge  of  writing  in  pre-Chris- 
tian times. 

It  corresponds  in  the  names  and  in  the  numbers  of 
the  letters  with  the  Celtic  alphabet  already  described ; 
but,  instead  of  letters,  lines  or  groups  of  lines  are  used, 
which  are  arranged  with  reference  to  a  single  stem 


THE  CELTIC  LANGUAGE  AND  LETTERS. 


49 


line,  or  the  sharp  edge  of  any  substance  on  which  they 
may  be  engraved.  Ogham  inscriptions  in  general  be- 
gin from  the  bottom,  and  are  read  upwards  from  left  to 
right.  They  are  generally  merely  indications  of  the 
name  and  family  of  some  deceased  hero,  and  are  in- 
scribed on  his  pillar-stone.  The  greater  number  of  these 
inscriptions  are  found  in  Cork  and  Kerry,  but  a  few 
have  been  noticed  in  Wales  and  Scotland,  and  one  in 
Shetland. 

Pliny  says  that  tablets  of  wood  were  in  use  before  the 
time  of  Homer ;  Plutarch  and  Diogenes  Laertius  inform 
us  that  the  laws  of  Solon  were  inscribed  on  tables  of 
wood.  Thus  before  the  use  of  Papyrus  was  discovered, 
stone  and  wood  were  universally  employed  to  preserve 
records  of  public  events  ;  and  even  in  our  own  times, 
when  it  is  a  special  object  to  ensure  the  permanence 
of  an  inscription,  it  is  recorded  on  some  solid,  and,  as 
far  as  may  be,  imperishable  material. 

The  laws  of  ancient  Erin  demand  full  and  special 
notice,  which  shall  be  given  at  a  later  period,  when 
they  come  historically  under  notice  at  the  time  of  their 
revision  by  St.  Patrick.  Some  customs  will,  however, 
be  mentioned  here,  as  many  of  them  are  referable  to 
the  earliest  period  of  Celtic  history. 

According  to  Dr.  O'Donovan,  an  eminent  authority, 
the  pagan  Irish  divided  the  year  into  four  quarters, 
each  of  which  began  with  a  stated  day.  These  quar- 
ters were  named  respectively  Earrach,  Samhradh,  Fogh- 
mhar  and  Geimhridh.  These  are,  unquestionably,  pure 
Celtic  words,  and  have  not  been  in  any  way  derived 
from  the  Latin  through  Christian  teachers,  an  evident 
proof  of  the  antiquity  of  this  division.  Bealtinne  was 
the  first  day  of  the  summer  season  (Samhradh),  and 
fires  were  lighted  to  celebrate  its  advent.  On  the  first 
day  of  harvest  (Foghmhar)  games  were  celebrated  at 
Taillte,  and  fires  were  lighted  at  Tlachtgha.  .  The  be- 
ginning of  spring  (Earrach)  was  called  Ormelc,  which 
is  derived  from  oi,  ewe,  and  melc,  milk. 

According  to  the  ancient  Annals,  the  Irish  had  many 
roads,  which  were  cleaned  and  repaired  regularly 
according  to  law.  These  are  described  with  great 
minuteness.  It  is  further  specified,  that  they  should 
be  cleaned  at  special  times,  and  that  they  should  be 
3 


50 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


kept  free  from  brushwood,  water  and  weeds  ;  an  in- 
dication that  roads,  even  in  the  most  populous  dis- 
tricts, were  by  no  means  as  frequently  traversed  then 
as  now. 

A  remarkable  resemblance  has  been  noticed  between 
the  pagan  military  architecture  of  Ireland,  and  the 
early  Pelasgian  monuments  in  Greece.  They  consist 
of  enclosures,  generally  circular,  of  massive  clay  walls, 
built  without  any  kind  of  mortar  or  cement,  from  six  to 
sixteen  feet  thick.  These  forts  or  fortresses  are  usually 
entered  by  a  narrow  doorway,  wider  at  the  bottom  than 
at  the  top,  and  are  of  Cyclopean  architecture.  Indeed, 
some  of  the  remains  in  Ireland  can  only  be  compared 
to  the  pyramids  of  Egypt,  so  massive  are  the  blocks  of 
stone  used  in  their  construction.  As  this  stone  is  fre- 
quently of  a  kind  not  to  be  found  in  the  immediate 
neighborhood,  the  means  used  for  their  transportation 
are  as  much  a  matter  of  surprise  and  conjecture,  as 
those  by  which  they  were  placed  in  the  position  in 
which  they  are  found.  The  most  remarkable  of  these 
forts  may  still  be  seen  in  the  Isles  of  Arran,  on  the 
west  coast  of  Gal  way ;  there  are  others  in  Donegal, 
Mayo,  and  in  Kerry.  Some  of  these  erections  have 
chambers  in  their  massive  walls,  and  in  others  stairs 
are  found  round  the  interior  of  the  wall ;  these  lead  to 
narrow  platforms,  varying  from  eight  to  forty -three 
feet  in  length,  on  which  the  warriors  or  defenders  stood. 
The  fort  of  Dunmohr,  in  the  middle  island  of  Arran, 
is  supposed  to  be  at  least  2,000  years  old.  Besides 
these  forts,  there  was  the  private  house,  a  stone  habita- 
tion, called  a  clochann,  in  which  an  individual  or  family 
resided ;  the  large  circular  dome-roofed  buildings,  in 
which  probably  a  community  lived ;  and  the  rath,  in- 
trenched and  stockaded. 

But  stone  was  not  the  only  material  used  for  places 
of  defence  or  domestic  dwellings.  The  most  curious 
and  interesting  of  ancient  Irish  habitations  is  the  cran- 
noge,  a  name  whose  precise  etymology  is  uncertain, 
though  there  is  little  doubt  that  it  refers  in  some  way 
to  the  peculiar  nature  of  the  structure. 

The  crannoges  were  formed  on  small  islets  or  shal- 
lows of  clay  or  marl  in  the  centre  of  a  lake,  probably 
dry  in  summer  but  submerged  in  winter.    These  little 


ARCHITECTURE. 


51 


islands,  or  mounds,  were  used  as  a  foundation  for  this 
singular  habitation.  Piles  of  wood,  or  heaps  of  stone 
and  bones  driven  into  or  heaped  on  the  soil,  formed  the 
support  of  the  crannoge.  They  were  used  as  places  of 
retreat  or  concealment,  and  are  usually  found  near  the 
ruins  of  such  old  forts  or  castles  as  are  in  the  vicinity 
of  lakes  or  marshes.  Sometimes  they  are  connected 
with  the  mainland  by  a  causeway,  but  usually  there  is 
no  appearance  of  any ;  and  a  small  canoe  has  been, 
with  but  very  few  exceptions,  discovered  in  or  near 
each  crannoge. 

Since  the  investigation  of  these  erections  in  Ireland, 
others  have  been  discovered  in  the  Swiss  lakes  of 
a  similar  kind,  containing,  or  rather  formed  on,  the 
same  extraordinary  accumulation  of  bones  between  the 
wooden  piles. 

The  cromlechs,  pillar-stones,  and  large  stone  circles 
all  belong  to  sepulchral  rites,  and  the  more  or  less  orna- 
mented urns  in  which  the  remains  of  the  dead  were 
deposited.  The  Irish  keen  (caoine)  may  still  be  heard 
in  Algeria  and  Upper  Egypt,  even  as  Herodotus  heard 
it  chanted  by  Lybian  women.  This  wailing  for  the 
deceased  is  a  most  ancient  custom ;  and  if  antiquity 
imparts  dignity,  it  can  hardly  be  termed  barbarous. 
The  Romans  employed  keeners  at  their  funerals,  an 
idea  which  they  probably  borrowed  from  the  Etruscans, 
with  many  others  incomparably  more  valuable,  but 
carefully  self-appropriated.  The  Irish  wake  also  may 
have  had  an  identity  of  origin  with  the  funeral  feasts  of 
the  Greeks,  Etruscans,  and  Romans,  whose  customs 
were  all  probably  derived  from  a  common  source. 

The  peculiar  objects  called  celts,  and  the  weapons 
and  domestic  utensils  of  this  or  an  earlier  period,  are  a 
subject  of  scarcely  less  interest. 

Among  primitive  nations,  the  tool  and  the  weapon 
differed  but  little.  The  hatchet  which  served  to  fell 
the  tree,  was  as  readily  used  to  cleave  open  the  head 
of  an  enemy.  The  knife,  whether  of  stone  or  hard 
wood,  carved  the  hunter's  prey,  or  gave  a  death-stroke 
in  battle.  Such  weapons  or  implements  have,  however, 
frequently  been  found  with  metal  articles,  under  cir- 
cumstances which  leave  little  doubt  that  the  use  of 
the  former  was  continued  long  after  the  discovery 


52 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


of  the  superior  value  of  the  latter.  Probably,  even  while 
the  Tuatha  De  Danann  artificers  were  framing  their 
more  refined  weapons  for  the  use  of  nobles  and  knights, 
the  rude  fashioner  of  flint-arrows  and  spear-heads  still 
continued  to  exercise  the  craft  he  had  learned  from  his 
forefathers,  for  the  benefit  of  poorer  or  less  fastidious 
warriors. 

The  collection  of  antiquities  in  the  Royal  Irish  Acad- 
emy furnishes  abundant  evidence  that  the  pagan  Irish 
were  well  skilled  in  the  higher  arts  of  working  in 
metals.  If  the  arbitrary  division  of  the  ages  of  stone, 
bronze,  and  iron,  can  be  made  to  hold  good,  we  must 
either  suppose  that  the  Irish  Celt  was  possessed  of 
extraordinary  mental  powers,  by  which  he  developed 
the  mechanical  arts  gradually,  or  that,  with  successive 
immigrations,  he  obtained  an  increase  of  knowledge 
from  exterior  sources.  The  bardic  annals  favor  the 
latter  theory. 

The  principal  weapons  of  the  Pagan  Celt  were  first, 
in  the  stone  age,  flint  knives,  some  of  which  were 
formed  with  great  care  and  considerable  skill,  and  sling- 
stones,  which  are  mentioned  constantly  in  the  early 
annals  as  doing  deadly  service  on  the  field  of  battle. 
Stones  were  also  used  as  a  very  effective  missile  for  the 
destruction  of  birds,  and  every  warrior  carried  in  his 
belt  or  girdle  a  stone  called  Lia  Miledh;  but  it  is  not 
known  whether  this  stone  was  used  with  a  sling  or 
merely  thrown  by  hand.  Arrow-heads  of  flint  are  also 
found  in  great  numbers,  and  spears  of  the  same  mate- 
rial. The  spears  are  carefully  polished  ;  the  arrow- 
heads are  rough,  but  well-formed.  Serrated  flint  imple- 
ments are  rare,  though  very  abundant  in  Scandinavian 
finds.  Stone  celts  are  found  in  great  abundance,  and 
some  are  remarkable  for  their  beauty  and  polish.  It  is 
doubtful  whether  the  celt  was  a  tool  or  weapon ;  prob- 
ably it  -was  used  for  both  purposes.  Stone  hammers 
and  axes  have  also  been  found.  Stone  moulds  for  cast- 
ing bronze  celts  and  arrows  are  also  amongst  some  of 
the  most  interesting  remains  in  the  collection  of  the 
Royal  Irish  Academy. 

The  principal  domestic  utensils  were  stone-cups,  flint 
knives,  and  grain-rubbers,  for  triturating  corn.  The 
Irish  were,  from  the  earliest  ages,  an  agricultural  peo- 


DRESS  OF  THE  PAGAN  CELT. 


53 


pie.  It  is  a  well-established  fact  that  grain,  and  par- 
ticularly wheal;,  both  white  and  red,  with  oats  and 
rye,  were  grown  abundantly  in  Ireland  before  the  Chris- 
tian era.  The  quern,  a  step  beyond  the  mere  grain -rub- 
ber, which  must  be  of  extreme  antiquity,  is  also  well 
represented.  Querns  are  still  used  in  some  remote  dis- 
tricts in  Ireland. 

The  earliest  dress  was  undoubtedly  skins  of  animals, 
and  civilization  has  only  advanced  as  far  from  the  orig- 
inal costume  as  it  has,  by  advanced  skill,  improved  in 
preparing  it.  A  skin  dress,  or  at  least  a  portion  of  it, 
still  remains,  evidencing  the  use  of  that  material.  Por- 
tions of  the  seams  still  remain,  which  are  sewn  with  fine 
gut,  and  with  remarkable  neatness.  A  careful  exam- 
ination of  the  surface  shows  that  the  material  is  deer 
skin.  The  use  of  leathern  clothes  is  mentioned  at  a 
comparatively  late  period  of  Irish  history. 

Shoes  and  boots,  of  great  antiquity,  have  also  been 
found.  Some  of  them  are  made  of  a  single  piece  of 
leather. 

Woollen  garments  were  undoubtedly  in  use  at  a  very 
early  period,  and  particular  colors  were  worn  as  an 
indication  of  rank.  A  deep  yellow  —  called  in  Celtic 
crock,  and  by  the  English  settlers  saffron  —  was  for 
many  centuries  the  prevailing  hue  of  Irish  garments. 

The  bards  were  allowed  to  wear  some  distinctive 
dress  of  birds'  feathers,  and  mention  is  made  on  several 
occasions  of  this  peculiar  costume. 

One  of  the  oldest  lists  of  the  animals  of  the  British 
Isles  is  contained  in  an  Irish  poem  in  the  Library  of  the 
Royal  Irish  Academy,  the  original  of  which  was  writ- 
ten in  the  ninth  century  ;  but  there  are  a  few  references 
to  this  subject  in  the  Annals.  The  brown  bear — in 
Irish,  mathghamhain — was  one  of  the  largest  of  the 
carnivora.  The  great  cave  bear  coexisted  with  the 
mammoth  ;  and  the  gigantic  Irish  elk  ( Gervus  Megace- 
ros),  for  which  there  is  no  Irish  name,  is  the  tallest  ani- 
mal of  its  class,  but  palaeontologists  are  doubtful  of  its 
coexistence  with  man.  The  wolf — in  Irish,  cir  allinek, 
or  the  wild  hound,  and  sometimes  also  called  mactire, 
or  the  son  of  the  soil — existed  until  the  beginning  of 
the  last  century.  The  Irish  greyhound,  cir,  has  also 
become  extinct.    Besides  these  more  noticeable  ani- 


54 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


mals,  there  were  the  fox,  the  red  dog%  the  otter,  the 
badger,  the  martin,  the  stoat  and  weasel,  and  the  wild 
and  domestic  cat.  The  seal  also  abounded  upon  the 
sea  coasts. 

For  domestic  purposes,  there  were  the  sheep  and 
goat,  and  the  red  deer,  fiodh  ruadh,  the  chief  object  of 
the  chase.  The  horse  was  coexistent  with  the  elephant 
in  pre-historic  times,  and  the  wild  boar  abounded  in  the 
woods  until  a  recent  period.  The  hare,  called  in  Irish 
gearr-fiodh  (the  short-eared),  and  the  rabbit,  were  also 
numerous ;  but  the  great  wealth  of  the  Pagan  herds- 
man was  his  cattle,  and  some  of  the  most  sanguinary 
feuds  recorded  in  the  Annals  were  simply  raids,  in 
which  the  victorious  party  marched  off  triumphantly 
with  the  cattle  of  his  enemies.  Barter  was  also  carried 
on  by  exchange  of  sheep  and  oxen,  and  the  annalists 
carefully  recorded  the  many  epidemics  by  which  their 
flocks  were  decimated. 

Pish  was  abundant,  and  much  used  as  an  article 
of  food,  especially  salmon.  Bees  were  carefully  and 
extensively  cultivated,  and  a  large  portion  of  the  Bre- 
hon  Laws  is  devoted  to  regulating  this  article  of  com- 
merce. 

From  the  earliest  period,  Ireland  was  richly  wooded ; 
hence  the  Annals  were  full  of  records  of  "plain  clear- 
ings, "  as  one  of  the  first  and  most  important  occupa- 
tions of  each  new  tribe  of  immigrants.  It  was  always 
an  Emerald  Isle,  in  verdure  and  fertility,  and  the  com- 
paratively recent  bog  deposits  have  preserved  abun- 
dant remains  of  its  ancient  flora.  Hazel,  oak,  yew,  and 
pine,  of  gigantic  growth,  have  been  found  beneath  the 
deepest  beds  of  this  desiccative  substance,  now  denom- 
inated turf,  and  composed  of  mosses,  heath  and  grasses, 
compressed  into  solid  form.  Three  species  of  pine 
have  been  discovered,  and  the  Annals  mention  hazel 
nuts,  acorn,  beech  nuts,  and  crab-apples  in  their  list  of 
edibles 


SECOND.  OR  IRISH  PENTARCHY  PERIOD. 


FROM  A.D.  428  TO  A.  D  795. 


PKINCIPAL  EVENTS. 

THE  REIGN  OF  KING  LAEGHAIRE  —  THE  FIRST  CHRISTIAN  MIS- 
SIONS TO  IRELAND  —  THE  CAPTIVITY  AND  MISSION  OF  ST. 
PATRICK — THE  FOUNDATION  OF  THE  KINGDOM  OF  SCOT- 
LAND BY  THE  DALARADIANS  —  THE  CONVERSION  OF  CONTI- 
NENTAL NATIONS  BY  IRISH  MISSIONARIES  —  THE  FOUNDA- 
TION OF  NUMEROUS  COLLEGES  AND  MONASTIC  SCHOOLS 
IN  IRELAND  —  THE  THREE  ORDERS  OF  IRISH  SAINTS  —  THE 
MISSIONS  OF  ST.  COLUMBA  IN  SCOTLAND,  AND  OF  ST.  COL- 
UMBANUS  ON  THE  CONTINENT. 


THE  IRISH  PENTARCHY. 


57 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  IRISH  PENTARCHY". 

A.  D.  428  TO  A.D.  458. 

Synchronous  Events:  Valentian  III.,  Emperor  of  the  West— Theo- 
dosius  the  Great,  Emperor  of  the  East  — Pharamond,  King  of 
the  Franks  —  Britain  abandoned  by  the  Romans— Invasion  of 
the  Saxons  —  Spain  under  the  Vandals  —  General  Council  of  Ephe- 
sus — St.  Augustine,  Bishop  of  HipiDO  —  Pontificate  of  St.  Celes- 
tine. 

Nial  of  the  Nine  Hostages  had  fourteen  sons,  eight 
of  whom  left  issue.  The  eldest,  Laeghaire,  succeeded 
his  uncle  Dathi  as  Ard-Righ,  or  chief  monarch  of  Ire- 
land. His  descendants  had  the  tribe  name  of  Hy-Niall ; 
but  the  families  of  his  twin  sons  Eoghan  and  Conall 
Gulban  are  distinguished  as  the  northern  Hy-Niall. 
Another  son,  Conall  Crivan,  is  the  progenitor  of  the 
southern  Hy-Nialls.  This  branch  of  the  family,  how- 
ever, never  attained  the  same  importance  as  the  north- 
ern sept. 

In  the  second  year  of  Laeghaire'  the  Four  Masters 
have  the  following  record  :  "  In  this  year,  Pope  Celes- 
tinus  the  First  sent  Palladius  to  Ireland,  to  propagate 
the  faith  among  the  Irish  ;  and  he  landed  in  the  county 
of  Leinster  with  a  company  of  twelve  men.  Dathi,  son 
of  Garchu,  refused  to  admit  him  ;  but  he  baptized  a  few 
persons  in  Ireland,  and  three  wooden  churches  were 
erected  by  him,  namely,  Cell-Fine,  Teach-na-Romhan, 
and  Domhnach-Arta.  At  Cell-Fine  he  left  his  books, 
and  a  shrine,  with  the  relics  of  Paul  and  Peter  and 
many  martyrs  besides.  He  left  these  four  in  those 
churches  —  Augustinus,  Benedictus,  Silvester,  and  Soli- 
nus.  Palladius,  on  his  returning  back  to  Rome  (as  he 
did  not  receive  respect  in  Ireland),  contracted  a  dis- 
ease in  the  country  of  the  Crinthuigh,  and  died  there- 
of." 

There  are  many  authorities  for  this  brief  account  of 


58 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


the  earliest  Christian  mission  to  Ireland,  but  the  prin- 
cipal authority  apart  from  the  Irish  Annals  is  the 
"  Chronicle  "  of  Prosper.  He  thus  records  this  import- 
ant event :  "  Palladius  was  consecrated  by  Pope  Celes- 
tine, and  sent  as  the  first  bishop  to  the  Irish  believing 
in  Christ."  The  words  ad  Scotos  in  Christum  ere- 
denies  evidence  an  opinion  that  there  were  some  con- 
verts already  in  Ireland.  This,  doubtless,  was  the 
result  of  occasional  intercourse  with  Britain,  where 
Tertullian  informs  us  that  as  early  as  the  second  cen- 
tury parts  of  the  country  not  yet  visited  by  the  Romans 
were  already  subject  to  Christ.  But  little  is  known  of 
the  early  history  of  Palladius.  Prosper  states  that 
through  his  intervention  Pope  Celestine  sent  Germanus, 
the  world-famous  Bishop  of  Auxerre,  in  his  own  place 
(vice  sua)  to  root  out  heresy,  and  to  direct  the  Britons  to 
the  Catholic  faith,  for  Agricola,  a  Pelagian,  son  of  Sever- 
ianus,  a  Pelagian  bishop,  had  corrupted  the  churches 
of  Britain,  "by  insinuation  of  his  doctrine." 

The  Irish  writers,  and  especially  Muircha-Macca- 
Mactheni,  in  the  "  Book  of  Armagh,"  style  him  chief 
deacon  of  St.  Celestine.  This  was  an  important  posi- 
tion in  the  Roman  Church.  The  Popes  were  frequently 
chosen  from  the  ranks  of  the  Roman  Deacons,  on  whom 
during  the  vacancy  of  the  See,  or  the  captivity  of  a 
pontiff,  the  administration  devolved. 

The  sites  of  two  of  the  churches  which  Palladius 
erected  have  been  identified.  They  were  situated  in 
the  territory  of  Hy-Garrchon,  on  the  river  Inver  Dee, 
in  the  east  of  the  present  county  of  Wicklow.  The 
site  of  Cell-Fine  is  doubtful,  but  may  be  the  present 
Dunlavin.  Teach-na-Romhan,  or  the  House  of  the 
Romans,  has  been  identified  as  Tigwin,  and  Domhnach- 
Arta  as  Dunard,  near  Redcross. 

The  reign  of  Laeghaire  has  few  events  of  interest 
apart  from  ecclesiastical  history.  Under  the  age  of 
Christ,  a.  d.  431,  the  Annals  record  the  ordination  of 
St.  Patrick  by  Pope  Celestine,  and  in  the  following 
year  they  mention  his  arrival  in  Ireland,  thus:  "The 
fourth  year  of  Laeghaire.  Patrick  came  to  Ireland  this 
year,  and  proceeded  to  baptize  and  bless  the  Irish  —  j 
men,  women,  sons,  and  daughters,  except  a  few  who 
did  not  consent  to  receive  faith  and  baptism  from  him,  j 


COMPILATION  OF  THE  BREHON  LAW. 


59 


as  his  Life  relates."  As  the  introduction  of  Christian- 
ity into  any  nation  leads  to  the  most  important  changes 
socially  and  politically,  a  detailed  account  of  St.  Pat- 
rick's life  and  mission  will  be  given  in  a  separate 
section. 

In  the  tenth  year  of  King  Laeghaire,  the  "  writ- 
ings and  old  books  "  of  Ireland  were  collected  by  the 
request  of  St.  Patrick,  and  under  the  direction  of  the 
king,  to  one  place,  that  they  might  be  carefully  exam- 
ined and  revised.  The  works  thus  collected  are  called 
the  Seanchus  and  Feinechus,  the  History  and  Laws. 
From  these  the  great  law-book  called  the  Senchus  Mor 
was  compiled.  According  to  the  account  given  in  the 
Senchus  itself,  nine  persons  were  engaged  in  the  com- 
pilation:  "Laeghaire,  Core,  Dairi,  the  hardy;  Patrick, 
Benen,  Cairnech,  the  priests ;  Rossa,  Dubhthach,  Fer- 
gus, with  science  ;  these  were  the  nine  pillars  of  the 
Senchus  Mor."  The  authority  for  the  authorship,  with 
an  account  of  the  work,  will  be  given  in  the  section  on 
the  Laws  of  Ancient  Ireland. 

Laeghaire'  died  a  Pagan,  after  a  reign  of  thirty  years. 
Pie  had  attempted  to  reimpose  the  Boromean  tribute, 
and  for  this  purpose  he  engaged  in  war  with  the  Hein- 
ster  men.  In  453  he  gained  a  victory  over  them,  but 
in  457  he  was  defeated  and  captured  at  Ath-dara,  on 
the  river  Barrow.  Before  his  release  he  was  obliged 
to  swear,  by  the  old  Pagan  oath,  that  he  would  not 
again  demand  tribute  from  them.  The  following  year 
he  broke  this  solemn  pledge,  and  as  he  was  struck  dead 
by  lightning,  or  in  some  sudden  manner,  when  return- 
ing home  from  battle,  the  bards  attributed  his  death  to 
the  agency  of  the  "  gods,"  whose  honor  he  had  violated 
by  breaking  the  oath  made  "  by  the  sun  and  moon." 

Before  entering  on  the  history  of  the  Roman  missions 
for  the  conversion  of  Pagan  Ireland,  and  the  wonderful 
success  of  St.  Patrick,  it  will  be  necessary  to  take  a 
brief  glance  at  the  five  great  divisions  or  kingdoms  of 
Ireland  ;  their  origin,  their  mode  of  government,  and 
the  principal  governing  families  and  clans  of  each  prov- 
ince. 

The  four  provinces  into  which  Ireland  is  divided  at' 
present  correspond  in  some  respects  with  the  ancient 
divisions.    The  kingdom  of  Meath,  though  the  small- 


60 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


est,  was  the  most  important  portion  of  the  ancient  pen- 
tarehy.  The  plain  of  Meath,  which  includes  the  greater 
part  of  the  present  counties  of  Meath  and  Dublin,  was 
known  by  the  name  of  Magh  Breagh,  the  great  or  mag- 
nificent plain.  Part  of  this  kingdom,  at  a  later  period, 
was  called  Fingal,  from  the  Danes  or  Norwegians  who 
planted  a  colony  there,  and  were  denominated  by  the 
Irish  Fine  Gall,  or  the  tribe  of  foreigners.  The  plain 
of  Brigra,  or  the  Brigantes,  so  called  from  being  pos- 
sessed by  the  Brigantes,  extendednorthward  from  Dublin 
to  Drogheda,  and  thence  to  Kells,  including  Tara,  Trim, 
Navan,  Athboy,  &c.  Another  great  division  of  an- 
cient Meath  was  called  Tebtha  (Tenia).  It  comprised 
the  present  county  Meath,  with  part  of  Longford,  and 
the  King's  Oouuty. 

The  Irish  chief  monarch,  or  Ard-Righ,  was  generally 
selected  from  amongst  the  kings  of  Meath.  From  the 
earliest  historical  period  to  the  fifth  century,  the  Ard- 
Righ  was  chosen  occasionally  from  the  descendants  of 
Eber,  Eremon  or  Ir  ;  but  from  the  fifth  century  to  the 
eleventh  century  the  O'Neils,  of  the  race  of  Eremon,  held 
the  chief  regal  power.  In  1002,  however,  Brian  Boru, 
King  of  Munster,  who  was  of  the  race  of  Eber,  dethroned 
Malachy  and  became  monarch  of  Ireland.  The  kings 
of  Meath  had  their  chief  residence  at  Dun-na  Sciath,  or 
the  Fortress  of  the  Shields,  situated  on  the  banks  of 
Lough  Ainnim,  now  Lough  Ennell,  near  Mullingar. 

Murtagh  O'Malaghlin  wa's  King  of  Meath  at  the  time 
of  the  Norman  invasion,  and  his  kingdom  was  trans- 
ferred to  Hugh  de  Lacy  by  a  grant  of  Henry  II.  He 
was  the  last  independent  king  of  Meath.  The  family 
has  become  now  almost  extinct,  though  it  was  one  of 
the  five  royal  Milesian  families  eligible  for  the  chief 
sovereignty.  The  other  families  were  the  O'Neils, 
kings  of  Ulster ;  the  O'Conors,  kings  of  Connaught ; 
the  O'Brians,  kings  of  Munster  ;  and  the  MacMurraghs, 
kings  of  Leinster,  now  represented  by  the  O'Cavenaghs, 
Each  of  these  great  families  have  still  noble  representa- 
tives. 

In  1172  Hugh  de  Lacy  was  appointed  Lord  Palatine 
by  Henry  II.,  and  dispossessed  all  these  princes  as  far 
as  he  could,  to  distribute  the  land  amongst  his  follow- 
ers.   The  following  are  the  names  of  a  few  of  the  prin- 


TERRITORIAL  DIVISIONS. 


61 


cipal  Anglo-Norman  settlers  :  The  Plunketts,  who  be- 
came Earls  of  Fingal ;  the  Gormanstons  ;  the  Barons  of 
Trimblestown ;  the  Bellews,  the  Davies,  the  Cusacks, 
and  the  Darceys. 

The  kingdom  of  Munster  is  said  to  have  derived  its 
name  from  a  pagan  Irish  king,  whose  existence  even 
is  doubtful.  Ancient  Munster  comprised  the  present 
counties  of  Tipperary,  Waterford,  Cork,  Kerry,  Limer- 
ick, and  part  of  Kilkenny.  It  was  divided  into  Tuadh 
Mumhan,  anglicized  Thomond  ;  Des  Mumhan,  anglicized 
Desmond ;  Oirmhumha,  anglicized  Ormond  ;  and  West 
Munster,  known  as  Iar  Mumhain.  These  districts 
should  be  carefully  remembered,  and  noted,  as  they 
will  be  frequently  mentioned  at  a  later  period.  Mun- 
ster, it  is  said,  was  governed  by  the  Milesians  of  the 
race  of  Eber ;  and  from  this  race  many  Ard-Righs  were 
elected.  In  early  times  the  descendants  of  Ith,  son  of 
Breogan,  and  uncle  of  Milesius,  possessed  considerable 
portions  of  this  territory. 

The  ancient  kingdom  of  Luighen,  now  Leinster,  com- 
prised the  present  counties  of  Wexford,  Wicklow,  Car- 
low,  and  Queen's  County,  with  part  of  Kilkenny,  King's 
County,  Kildare,  and  that  part  of  the  county  Dublin 
south  of  the  river  Liffey.  In  the  reign  of  Queen  Eliza- 
beth the  old  kingdom  of  Meath  was  added  to  Leinster, 
with  the  county  of  Louth,  which  until  then  formed  a 
part  of  the  kingdom  of  Ulster. 

The  MacMurroughs  were  kings  of  Leinster  previous 
to  the  English  invasion,  and  maintained  their  inde- 
pendence for  several  centuries.  They  were  represented 
by  the  O'Cavenaghs  at  a  later  period.  The  O'Tooles 
were  the  most  important  of  the  Leinster  chieftains. 

The  principal  Anglo-Norman  settlers  in  Leinster  were 
the  Talbots,  Butlers,  Keatings,  Esmondes,  Howards, 
Eustaces,  &c.  Some  of  the  most  important  famiilies 
settled  in  this  part  of  Ireland  partly  because  it  was 
nearest  to  the  English  coast,  and  partly  because,  for  the 
same  reason,  it  was  the  most  easily  subdued. 

The  kingdom  of  Uladh,  or  Ulster,  comprised  the  coun- 
ties of  Louth,  Monaghan,  Armagh,  Down,  Antrim,  Ty- 
rone, Deny,  Donegal,  and  Fermanagh.  The  county 
Cavan,  which  was  part  of  Brefney,  belonged  to  Con- 
naught,  but  was  afterwards  added  to  Ulster.  The 


62 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


county  Louth,  which  was  part  of  ancient  Ulster,  was 
added  to  Leinster.  The  divisions  of  this  province  are 
frequently  mentioned  in  Irish  history,  and  should  be 
carefully  remembered. 

Tir  Eogain  comprised  the  present  counties  of  Tyrone 
and  Deny,  with  part  of  Donegal.  The  kings  of  Ulster 
resided  at  the  celebrated  fortress  of  Grinan,  situated  on 
a  hill  of  the  same  name.  The  ruins  indicate  a  structure 
of  great  extent  and  Cyclopean  architecture.  Tir  Eogain 
obtained  its  name  from  Owen,  son  of  Nial,  of  the  Nine 
Hostages,  and  was  anglicized  into  Tyrone. 

The  name  of  Meath,  originally  applied  to  the  whole 
province  of  Ulster,  was  at  a  later  period  confined  to  a 
large  territory  comprising  the  present  county  Down 
and  part  of  Antrim.  This  district  was  also  called  Dala- 
riada,  from  dal,  a  part  or  portion,  and  Ariada,  a  king  of 
Ulster  in  the  third  century.  The  chief  clans  were  :  the 
Dunlevys,  heads  of  the  famous  military  race  of  the  Red- 
branch  Knights  ;  the  MacGuires  ;  the  O'Flynns ;  and 
the  MacGowans.  In  the  fourteenth  century  Hugh  Boy 
O'Neil  took  possession  of  the  northern  part  of  Dalariada, 
and  from  him  it  obtained  the  name  of  Claneboy. 

The  chief  Norman  settlers  here  were:  John  de 
Courcy  ;  the  De  Lacys,  who  expelled  him,  as  he  had 
expelled  the  native  princes  ;  and  the  De  Burgos  now 
took  the  name  of  Burke,  and  became  earls  of  Ulster. 

The  territory  of  Dalariada  was  divided  into  two  large 
districts  —  the  Glynns,  so  called  from  its  having  several 
large  glens,  and  the  Reuta.  The  MacDonalds  of  this 
district  were  created  earls  of  Antrim. 

The  kingdom  of  Connaught,  in  Irish  Conacht,  com- 
prised the  present  counties  of  Galway,  Mayo,  Sligo, 
Roscommon,  Leitrim,  and  Cavan  ;  the  latter  county 
was  added  in  the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth.  The  prin- 
cipal district  was  Ui  Fiachrach,  called  after  a  celebrated 
warrior  named  Fiachra,  whodied  a.  d.  402  of  wounds  re- 
ceived in  battle.  He  was  the  father  of  Dathi,  who  was 
killed  by  lightning  on  the  Alps.  Amalgaidh,  another 
son  of  Fiachra,  was  king  of  Connaught ;  and  the  terri- 
tory of  Tirawley,  in  Mayo,  obtained  its  name  from  him. 


st.  Patrick's  life  and  labors. 


63 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE  MISSION  OF  ST.  PATRICK  AND  THE  INTRODUC- 
TION OF  CHRISTIANITY  INTO  IRELAND. 

The  sixth  century  was  an  age  of  missionary  enterprise. 
The  rapid  extension  of  the  Roman  conquests  for  several 
centuries  after  the  birth  of  Christ  was  a  providential 
means  for  facilitating  the  conversion  of  many  nations. 
England,  Gaul,  and  many  parts  of  Germany  were  thus 
gradually  civilized  and  enlightened  ;  and  missionaries 
were  soon  found  amongst  the  new  converts  as  zealous 
in  spreading  the  knowledge  of  the  true  Faith  as  their 
teachers  had  been  in  imparting  that  knowledge.  The 
principal  events  in  the  life  of  the  apostle  of  Ireland  are 
recorded  in  well-authenticated  and  ancient  documents. 
But  some  minor,  and,  for  the  present  work,  unimpor- 
tant details  are,  and  must  always  remain,  undecided. 
The  birthplace  of  the  saint  is  included  in  this  category, 
and  has  been  contended  for  by  several  nationalities. 
The  more  probable  opinion,  and  that  which  at  present 
prevails,  is  that  he  was  born  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Boulogne.  In  his  "  Confession,"  a  work  still  preserved, 
he  says  that  his  family  had  a  farm  near  the  town  of 
Bonaven  Tabernice,  and  that  he  was  made  captive  there. 
St.  Patrick  was  made  captive  in  his  sixteenth  year,  and 
when  brought  to  Ireland  was  sold  as  a  slave  to  a  north- 
ern chieftain  named  Milcho,  whose  possessions  were  in 
that  part  of  Dalariada  now  comprised  in  the  present 
county  Antrim. 

St.  Patrick's  father  was  a  deacon,  who  had  resigned 
the  office  of  a  decurio  to  devote  himself  to  missionary 
work.  His  mother,  Conchessa,  was  either  a  sister  or 
a  niece  of  the  famous  St.  Martin  of  Tours.  The  earli- 
est biography  of  the  saint  was  written  by  his  disciple 
Fiacc,  who  had  been  a  pupil  of  the  bard  Dubtach,  and 
who  was  converted  and  ordained  bishop  by  St.  Patrick. 


64 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


Hence  there  is  both  early  and  authentic  material  for  the 
life  of  the  saint. 

St.  Patrick  has  himself  recorded  the  harshness  of  his 
captivity,  and  the  cruelty  of  his  masters,  who  kept  him 
day  and  night  exposed  to  the  severity  of  the  weather, 
feeding"  sheep  and  swine  upon  the  mountains.  The 
careful  religious  education  which  he  had  received  in 
his  father's  house,  proved  at  once  his  safeguard  and  his 
consolation.  A  hundred  times  in  the  day,  and  a  hun- 
dred times  in  the  night,  he  informs  us,  he  prayed  to  the 
God  of  the  captive  and  the  slave,  and  after  six  years' 
bondage  he  was  delivered.  While  watching  in  the 
night  he  heard  a  voice  which  commanded  him  to  hasten 
to  a  certain  port,  where  he  would  find  a  ship  ready  to 
take  him  to  his  own  country.  He  thus  describes  his 
escape  :  "  And  I  came  in  the  power  of  the  Lord,  who 
directed  my  course  towards  a  good  end ;  and  I  was 
under  no  apprehension  until  I  arrived  where  the  ship 
was.  It  was  then  clearing  out,  and  I  called  for  a  pas- 
sage. But  the  master  of  the  vessel  got  angry,  and  said 
to  me,  '  Do  not  attempt  to  come  with  us.'  On  hearing 
this  I  retired,  for  the  purpose  of  going  to  the  cabin 
where  I  had  been  received  as  a  guest.  And,  on  my 
way  thither,  I  began  to  pray ;  but  before  I  had  finished 
my  prayer,  I  heard  one  of  the  men  crying  out  with  a 
loud  voice  after  me,  ?  Come,  quickly ;  for  they  are  call- 
ing you,'  and  immediately  I  returned.  And  they  said 
to  me,  '  Come,  we  receive  thee  on  trust.  Be  our 
friend,  just  as  it  may  be  agreeable  to  you.'  We  then 
set  sail,  and  after  three  days  reached  land."  The  two 
breviaries  of  Rheims  and  Fiacc's  Hymn  agree  in  stating 
that  the  men  with  whom  Patrick  embarked  were  mer- 
chants from  Gaul,  and  that  they  landed  in  a  place 
called  Treguir,  in  Brittany,  some  distance  from  his 
native  place.  Their  charity,  however,  was  amply  re- 
paid. Travelling  through  a  desert  country,  they  had 
surely  perished  with  hunger,  if  the  prayers  of  the  saint 
had  not,  we  are  told,  obtained  them  a  miraculous  sup- 
ply of  food. 

It  is  said  that  St.  Patrick  suffered  a  second  captivity, 
which,  however,  only  lasted  sixty  days  ;  but  of  this  little 
is  known.  After  a  short  residence  at  the  famous  mon- 
astery of  St.  Martin,  near  Tours,  founded  by  his  saintly 


VISION  OF  ST.  PATRICE. 


65 


relative,  he  placed  himself  (probably  in  his  thirtieth 
year)  under  the  direction  of  St.  Germain  of  Auxerre. 

It  was  about  this  period  that  he  was  favored  with  the 
remarkable  vision  relating  to  his  Irish  apostolate.  He 
thus  describes  it  in  his  "  Confession  :  "  — 

"I  saw,  in  a  nocturnal  vision,  a  man  named  Victori- 
ous, coming  as  if  from  Ireland,  with  a  large  parcel  of 
letters,  one  of  which  he  handed  to  me.  On  reading  the 
beginning  of  it,  I  found  it  contained  these  words  :  'The 
voice  of  the  Irish  ; ;  and  while  reading  it  I  thought  I 
heard,  at  the  same  moment,  the  voice  of  a  multitude  of 
persons  near  the  Wood  of  Foclut,  which  is  near  the 
western  sea  ;  and  they  cried  out,  as  if  with  one  voice, 
1  We  entreat  thee,  holy  youth,  to  come  and  henceforth  walk 
amongst  us.'  And  I  was  greatly  affected  in  my  heart, 
and  could  read  no  longer  ;  and  then  I  awoke. " 

St.  Patrick  retired  to  Italy  after  this  vision,  and  there 
spent  many  years.  During  this  period  he  visited  Lerins 
and  other  islands  in  the  Mediterranean.  Lerins  was 
even  then  called  the  insulabeata,  from  the  number  of  holy 
men  who  dwelt  there,  or  who  came  thither  forinstruction. 
St.  Honoratus,  the  founder  of  this  famous  school  and 
monastery,  was  then  living,  and  many  persons  of  note 
were  assembled  there  at  the  time  of  St.  Patrick's  visit. 
Amongst  others  we  find  the  names  of  St.  Hilary  of 
Aries,  St.  Lupus  of  Troyes,  and  St.  Vincent  of  Lerins. 

But  the  most  important  event  in  the  life  of  the  saint 
was  his  visit  to  Eome,  where  he  received  authority  from 
Pope  Celestine  to  undertake  his  mission,  since  without 
this  authorization  his  labors  would  have  been  useless, 
because  they  would  have  wanted  the  divine  benediction. 
St.  Germanus,  the  earliest  friend  of  the  saint,  sent  one 
of  his  own  priests  with  him  to  testify  to  his  character, 
and  for  companionship.  St.  Patrick's  devotion  to  the 
Holy  See  was  but  what  might  be  expected  from  a 
Saint,  and  was  manifested  in  the  strongest  manner 
throughout  his  life. 

There  is  some  doubt  as  to  the  time  and  place  of  his 
episcopal  consecration,  but  there  is  no  doubt  that  he 
obtained  the  special  blessing  of  the  Pope  upon  his  work.1 

1  Full  details  will  "be  found  in  the  Life  of  St.  Patrick  just  published 
by  the  author  of  the  work.  May  we  request  our  readers  to  procure  it, 
and  promote  the  circulation.  It  is  sold  for  us  by  the  Catholic  Publi* 
cation  Society,  9  Warren  street,  ISew  York. 


66 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


In  the  year  432  St.  Patrick  landed  in  Ireland.  It 
was  the  first  year  of  the  pontificate  of  St.  Sixtus  III., 
the  successor  ox  Celestine  ;  the  fourth  year  of  the  reign 
of  Laeghaire,  son  of  Nial  of  the  Nine  Hostages,  King  of 
Ireland.  It  is  generally  supposed  that  the  saint  landed 
first  at  a  place  called  Inbher  De,  believed  to  be  the 
mouth  of  the  Bray  river,  in  Wicklow.  Here  he  was 
repulsed  by  the  inhabitants  —  a  circumstance  which  can 
be  easily  accounted  for  from  its  proximity  to  the  terri- 
tory of  King  Nathi,  who  had  so  lately  driven  away  his 
predecessor,  Palladius. 

St.  Patrick  returned  to  his  ship,  and  sailing  towards 
the  north,  landed  at  the  little  island  of  Holm  Patrick, 
near  Skerries,  off  the  north  coast  of  Dublin.  After  a 
brief  stay  he  proceeded  still  further  northward,  and 
finally  entering  Strangford  Lough,  landed  with  his  com- 
panions in  the  district  of  Magh-Inis,  in  the  present 
barony  of  Lecale.  Having  penetrated  some  distance 
into  the  interior,  they  were  encountered  by  Dicho,  the 
lord  of  the  soil,  who,  hearing  of  their  embarkation,  and 
supposing  them  to  be  pirates,  had  assembled  a  formida- 
ble body  of  retainers  to  expel  them  from  his  shores. 
But  it  is  said  that  the  moment  he  perceived  Patrick,  his 
apprehensions  vanished.  After  some  brief  converse, 
Dicho  invited  the  saint  and  his  companions  to  his  house, 
and  soon  after  received  himself  the  grace  of  holy  bap- 
tism. Dicho  was  St.  Patrick's  first  convert,  and  the 
first  who  erected  a  Christian  church  under  his  direction. 
The  memory  of  this  event  is  still  preserved  in  the  name 
Saull,  the  modern  contraction  of  Sabhall  Padruic,  or 
Patrick's  Barn.  The  saint  was  especially  attached  to 
the  scene  of  his  first  missionary  success,  and  frequently 
retired  to  the  monastery  which  was  established  there 
later. 

After  a  brief  residence  with  the  new  converts,  Patrick 
set  out  for  the  habitation  of  his  old  master  Milcho.  It 
is  said  that  when  Milcho  heard  of  the  approach  of  his 
former  slave,  he  became  so  indignant,  that,  in  a  violent 
fit  of  passion,  he  set  fire  to  his  house,  and  perished  him- 
self in  the  flames.  The  saint  returned  to  Saull,  and  from 
thence  journeyed  by  water  to  the  mouth  of  the  Boyne, 
where  he  landed  at  a  small  port  called  Colp.  Tara  was 
his  destination;  but  on  his  way  thither  he  stayed  a  night 


ST.  PATRICK  AT  TAR  A. 


67 


at  the  house  of  a  man  of  property  named  Seschnan. 
This  man  and  his  whole  family  were  baptized,  and  one 
of  his  sons  received  the  name  of  Benignus  from  St.  Pat- 
rick, on  account  of  the  gentleness  of  his  manner. 

On  Holy  Saturday  St.  Patrick  arrived  at  Slane,  where 
he  caused  a  tent  to  be  erected,  and  lighted  the  paschal 
fire  at  nightfall,  preparatory  to  the  celebration  of  the 
Easter  festival.  The  princes  and  chieftains  of  Meath 
were,  at  the  same  time,  assembled  at  Tara,  where  King 
Laeghaire  was  holding  a  great  pagan  festival.  The 
object  of  this  meeting  has  been  disputed,  some  authori- 
ties saying  that  it  was  convoked  to  celebrate  the  Bel- 
tinne,  or  fire  of  Bal  or  Baal ;  others,  that  the  king  was 
commemorating  his  own  birthday.  On  the  festival  of 
Beltinne,  it  was  forbidden  to  light  any  fire  until  a  flame 
was  visible  from  the  top  of  Tara  Hill.  Laeghaire  was 
indignant  that  this  regulation  should  have  been  in- 
fringed ;  and  probably  the  representation  of  his  druids, 
regarding  the  mission  of  the  great  apostle,  did  not  tend 
to  allay  his  wrath.  Determined  to  examine  himself 
into  the  intention  of  these  bold  strangers,  he  set  forth, 
accompanied  by  his  bards  and  attendants,  to  the  place 
where  the  sacred  fire  had  been  kindled,  and  ordered  the 
apostle  to  be  brought  before  him,  strictly  commanding, 
at  the  same  time,  that  no  respect  should  be  shown  to 
him. 

Notwithstanding  the  king's  command,  Ere,  the  son 
of  Dego,  rose  up  to  salute  him,  obtained  the  grace  of 
conversion,  and  was  subsequently  promoted  to  the  epis- 
copate. The  result  of  this  interview  was  the  appoint- 
ment of  a  public  discussion,  to  take  place  the  next  day 
at  Tara,  between  St.  Patrick  and  the  pagan  bards. 

It  was  Easter  Sunday — a  day  ever  memorable  for 
this  event  in  the  annals  of  Erin.  Laeghaire  and  his 
court  sat  in  state  to  receive  the  ambassador  of  the 
Eternal  King.  Treacherous  preparations  had  been 
made,  and  it  was  anticipated  that  Patrick  and  his  com- 
panions would  scarcely  reach  Tara  alive.  The  saint 
was  aware  of  the  machinations  of  his  enemies ;  but  life 
was  of  no  value  to  him,  save  as  a  means  of  performing 
the  great  work  assigned  him,  and  the  success  of  that 
work  was  in  the  hands  of  God.  The  old  writers  love  to 
dwell  on  the  meek  dignity  of  the  apostle  during  this  day 


68 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


of  trial  and  triumph.  He  set  forth  with  his  companions, 
from  where  he  had  encamped,  in  solemn  procession, 
singing  a  hymn  of  invocation  which  he  had  composed, 
in  the  Irish  tongue,  for  the  occasion,  and  which  is  still 
preserved,  and  well  authenticated.  He  was  clothed,  as 
usual,  in  white  robes  ;  but  he  wore  his  mitre,  and  car- 
ried in  his  hand  the  Staff  of  Jesus.  Eight  priests  at- 
tended him,  robed  also  in  white,  and  his  youthful  con- 
vert, Benignus,  the  son  of  Seschnan. 

Thus,  great  in  the  arms  of  meekness  and  prayer,  the 
Christian  hosts  faced  the  array  of  pagan  pomp  and 
pride.  Again  the  monarch  had  commanded  that  no 
honor  should  be  paid  to  the  saint,  and  again  he  was 
disobeyed.  His  own  chief  poet  and  druid,  Dubtach, 
rose  up  instantly  on  the  entrance  of  the  strangers,  and 
saluted  the  venerable  apostle  with  affection  and  respect. 
The  Christian  doctrine  was  then  explained  by  St.  Pat- 
rick to  his  wondering  audience,  and  such  an  impression 
was  made,  that  although  Laeghaire  lived  and  died  an 
obstinate  pagan,  he  nevertheless  permitted  the  saint  to 
preach  where  and  when  he  would,  and  to  receive  all 
who  might  come  to  him  for  instruction  or  holy  baptism. 

On  the  following  day  St.  Patrick  repaired  to  Taillten, 
where  the  public  games  were  commencing ;  and  there 
he  remained  for  a  week,  preaching  to  an  immense  con- 
course of  people.  Here  his  life  was  threatened  by 
Cairbre,  a  brother  of  King  Laeghaire  ;  but  the  saint 
was  defended  by  another  of  the  royal  brothers,  named 
Conall  Creevan,  who  was  shortly  after  converted.  The 
church  of  Donough  Patrick,  in  Meath,  was  founded  by 
his  desire.  It  is  said  that  all  the  Irish  churches  which 
begin  with  the  name  of  Donough  were  founded  by  the 
saint,  the  foundation  being  always  marked  out  by  him 
on  a  Sunday,  for  which  Domhnach  is  the  Gaedhilic 
term. 

Having  preached  for  some  time  in  the  western  part 
of  the  territory  of  Meath,  the  saint  proceeded  as  far 
as  Magh  Slecht,  where  the  great  idol  of  the  nation 
Ceann  (or  Crom)  Cruach  was  solemnly  worshipped. 
The  legend  of  its  destruction,  as  given  in  the  oldest 
annals,  is  singularly  interesting.  We  give  a  brief 
extract  from  Professor  0 7 Curry's  translation  :  "  When 
Patrick  saw  the  idol  from, the  water,  which  is  named 


st.  Patrick's  missionary  labors. 


69 


Guthard  (loud  voice  —  i.  e.  he  elevated  his  voice) ;  and 
when  he  approached  near  the  idol,  he  raised  his  arm  to 
lay  the  Staff  of  Jesus  on  him,  and  it  did  not  reach  him  ; 
he  bent  back  from  the  attempt  upon  his  right  side,  for 
it  was  to  the  south  his  face  was  ;  and  the  mark  of  the 
staff  lies  in  his  left  side  still,  although  the  staff  did  not 
leave  Patrick's  hand  ;  and  the  earth  swallowed  the 
other  twelve  idols  to  their  heads  ;  and  they  are  in  that 
condition  in  commemoration  of  the  miracle.  And  he 
called  upon  all  the  people  cum  rege  Laeghuire ;  they  it 
was  that  adored  the  idol.  And  all  the  people  saw  him 
(<.  e.  the  demon),  and  they  dreaded  their  dying  if  Pat- 
rick had  not  sent  him  to  hell." 

After  this  glorious  termination  of  Easter  week,  the 
saint  made  two  other  important  converts.  He  set  out 
for  Oonnaught ;  and  when  near  Rath  Cruaghan,  met  the 
daughters  of  King  Laeghaire,  the  princesses  Ethnea 
and  Fethlimia,  who  were  coming,  in  patriarchal  fashion, 
to  bathe  in  a  neighboring  well.  These  ladies  were  under 
the  tuition  of  certain  druids,  or  magi ;  but  they  will- 
ingly listened  to  the  instruction  of  the  saint,  and  were 
converted  and  baptized. 

The  interview  took  place  at  daybreak.  The  royal 
sisters  heard  the  distant  chant  of  the  priests,  who  were 
reciting  matins  as  they  walked  along;  and  when  they 
approached  and  beheld  them  in  their  white  garments, 
singing,  with  books  in  their  hands,  it  was  naturally 
supposed  that  they  were  not  beings  of  earth. 

"  Who  are  ye  ?  "  they  inquired  of  the  saint  and  his 
companions.  "  Are  ye  of  the  sea,  the  heavens,  or  the 
earth?" 

St.  Patrick  explained  to  them  such  of  the  Christian 
mysteries  as  were  most  necessary  at  the  moment,  and 
spoke  of  the  one  only  true  God. 

"  But  where,"  they  asked,  "does  your  God  dwell? 
Is  it  in  the  sun  or  on  earth,  in  mountains  or  in  valleys, 
in  the  sea  or  in  rivers  ? " 

Then  the  apostle  told  them  of  his  God  —  the  Eternal, 
the  Invisible  —  and  how  He  had  indeed  dwelt  on  earth 
as  man,  but  only  to  suffer  and  die  for  their  salvation. 
As  the  maidens  listened  to  his  words,  their  hearts  were 
kindled  with  heavenly  love,  and  they  inquired  further 
what  they  could  do  to  show  their  gratitude  to  this 


70 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


great  King.  In  that  same  hour  they  were  baptized ; 
and  in  a  short  time  they  consecrated  themselves  to 
Him,  the  story  of  whose  surpassing  charity  had  so 
moved  their  young  hearts. 

After  the  conversion  of  the  princesses  Ethnea  and 
Fethlimia,  St.  Patrick  traversed  almost  every  part  of 
Connaught,  and  is  said  to  have  proved  his  mission  by 
the  exercise  of  miraculous  powers. 

The  saint's  greatest  success  was  in  the  land  of  Tiraw- 
ley,  near  the  town  of  Foclut,  from  whence  he  had  heard 
the  voice  of  the  Irish  even  in  his  native  land.  As  he 
approached  this  district,  he  learned  that  the  seven  sons 
of  King  Amalgaidh  were  celebrating  a  great  festival. 
Their  father  had  but  lately  died,  and  it  was  said  these 
youths  exceeded  all  the  princes  of  the  land  in  martial 
courage  and  skill  in  combat.  St.  Patrick  advanced  in 
solemn  procession  even  into  the  very  midst  of  the 
assembly,  and  for  his  reward  obtained  the  conversion 
of  the  seven  princes  and  twelve  thousand  of  their  fol- 
lowers. It  is  said  that  his  life  was  at  this  period  in 
some  danger,  but  that  Endeus,  one  of  the  converted 
princes,  and  his  son  Conall,  protected  him.  After  seven 
years  spent  in  Connaught,  he  passed  into  Ulster  ;  there 
many  received  the  grace  of  holy  baptism,  especially  in 
that  district  now  comprised  in  the  county  Monaghan. 

It  was  probably  about  this  time  that  the  saint 
returned  to  Meath,  and  appointed  his  nephew,  St. 
Secundinus  or  Sechnal,  who  was  bishop  of  the  place 
already  mentioned  as  Domhnach  Sechnail,  to  preside 
over  the  northern  churches  during  his  own  absence  in 
the  southern  part  of  Ireland. 

The  saint  then  visited  those  parts  of  Leinster  which 
had  been  already  evangelized  by  Palladius,  and  laid  the 
foundation  of  many  new  churches.  He  placed  one  of 
his  companions,  bishop  Auxilius,  at  Killossy,  near 
Naas,  and  another,  Isserninus,  at  Kilcullen,  both  in  the 
present  county  of  Kildare.  At  Leix,  in  the  Queen's 
County,  he  obtained  a  great  many  disciples,  and  from 
thence  he  proceeded  to  visit  his  friend,  the  poet  Dubtach, 
who,  it  will  be  remembered,  paid  him  special  honor  at 
Tara,  despite  the  royal  prohibition  to  the  contrary.  Dub- 
tach, lived  in  that  part  of  the  country  called  Hy-Kinsal- 
lagh,  now  the  county  Carlow.  It  was  here  the  poet  Piacc 


DEATH  OF  ST.  PATRICK. 


71 


was  first  introduced  to  the  saint,  whom  he  afterwards 
so  faithfully  followed.  Fiacc  had  been  a  disciple  of 
Dubtach,  and  was  by  profession  a  bard,  and  a  member 
of  an  illustrious  house.  He  was  the  first  Leinster  man 
raised  to  episcopal  dignity.  It  was  probably  at  this 
period  that  St.  Patrick  visited  Munster,  and  the  touch- 
ing incident  already  related  occurred  at  the  baptism  of 
Aengus.  This  prince  was  singularly  devout,  as  indeed 
his  conduct  during  the  administration  of  the  sacrament 
of  regeneration  could  not  fail  to  indicate. 

The  saint's  mission  in  Munster  was  eminently  suc- 
cessful. Lonan,  the  chief  of  the  district  of  Ormonde, 
entertained  him  with  great  hospitality,  and  thousands 
embraced  the  faith.  Many  of  the  inhabitants  of  Oorca 
Baiscin  crossed  the  Shannon  in  their  hide-covered  boats 
(curaghs)  when  the  saint  was  on  the  southern  side,  in 
Hy-Figeinfe,  and  were  baptized  by  him  in  the  waters 
of  their  magnificent  river.  At  their  earnest  entreaty, 
St.  Patrick  ascended  a  hill  which  commanded  a  view  of 
the  country  of  the  Dalcassians,  and  gave  his  benedic- 
tion to  the  whole  territory.  This  hill  is  called  Findine 
in  the  ancient  lives  of  the  saint ;  but  this  name  is  now 
obsolete.  Local  traditions  and  antiquarian  investiga- 
tion make  it  probable  that  the  favored  spot  is  that  now 
called  Onoc  Patrick,  near  Foyngs  Island. 

The  saint's  next  journey  was  in  the  direction  of  Kerry, 
where  he  prophesied  that  "  St.  Brendan,  of  the  race  of 
Hua  Alta,  the  great  patriarch  of  monks  and  star  of  the 
western  world,  would  be  born,  and  that  his  birth  would 
take  place  some  years  after  his  own  death. " 

The  See  of  Armagh  was  founded  about  the  year  455, 
towards  the  close  of  the  great  apostle's  life.  The  royal 
palace  of  Emania,  in  the  immediate  neighborhood,  was 
then  the  residence  of  the  kings  of  Ulster.  A  wealthy 
chief,  by  name  Daire,  gave  the  saint  a  portion  of  land 
for  the  erection  of  his  cathedral  on  an  eminence  called 
Druim-Sailech,  the  Hill  of  Sallows.  This  high  ground 
is  now  occupied  by  the  city  of  Armagh  (Ard-Macha). 
Religious  houses  for  both  sexes  were  established  near 
the  church,  and  soon  were  filled  with  ardent  and  de- 
voted subjects. 

The  saint's  labors  were  now  drawing  to  a  close,  and 
he  was  warned,  as  many  holy  men  have  been  of  his 


72 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


approaching  end.  He  wished  to  die  at  Armagh,  where 
he  had  founded  the  Episcopal  See,  which  remains  to  the 
present  day  as  a  monument  of  the  fidelity  of  the  Irish 
race  to  the  faith  of  their  fathers.  But  his  desire, 
though,  no  doubt,  most  pure  and  holy,  was  not  to  be 
fulfilled.  An  angel  appeared  to  him,  and  desired  him 
to  return  to  Saull.  Here  he  died  on  the  17th  of  March, 
a.  d.  465,  after  having  received  the  Holy  Viaticum  and 
the  last  anointing  from  Bishop  Tassach. 


DEATH  OF  ST.  B RIGID. 


73 


CHAPTER  VI. 

MILESIAN  CHRISTIAN  KINGS  OF  THE  PENTAHCHY 
PERIOD.  —  IRISH  SAINTS  AND  MISSIONARIES. 

A.D.503TO  A.D.  778. 

Contemporary  Events:— Death  of  Clo vis— Justinian  proclaimed 
Emperor — Belisarius  retakes  Rome  —  Foundation  of  the  King- 
dom of  Lombardy  —  Phocas  proclaimed  Emperor  —  Chosroes 
conquers  Mesopotamia  —  Heraclius  invades  Persia— Mohammed 
commences  his  career  —  Theodosius  retires  into  a  monastery — 
Leo,  Emperor  —  Charlemagne  visits  Rome  — Commencement  of 
the  age  of  Chivalry. 

After  Lughaidh,  son  of  Laeghaire,  had  governed  Ire- 
land for  twenty-five  years,  he  was  killed  at  Ashadh-far- 
cha  by  lightning,  a.  d.  503.  The  foundation  of  the 
kingdom  of  Scotland  by  a  colony  from  Ireland  is  set 
down  by  most  chronologists  under  this  date.  During 
the  reign  of  Conaire  II.,  at  the  close  of  the  second  cen- 
tury of  the  Christian  era,  a  colony  was  led  into  Scotland 
by  Carbry  Kiada,  from  whom  the  Dalariadians  of  both 
Antrim  and  Scotland  took  their  name.  They  held  their 
ground  in  their  new  country,  notwithstanding  the  op- 
position of  the  Picts,  until  the  commencement  of  the 
sixth  century.  The  Picts  now  made  a  vigorous  effort 
to  expel  the  intruders,  and  would  have  succeeded  if 
the  colony  had  not  obtained  assistance  from  Ireland. 
Loarn,  Angus,  and  Feargus,  the  sons  of  Ere,  went  to 
the  scene  of  combat  with  a  strong  reinforcement  of 
Dalariadians,  and  Fergus  obtained  the  sovereignty  of 
Scotland. 

He  is  said  to  have  obtained  from  his  cousin,  Murker- 
tach,  then  king  of  Ireland,  the  famous  Lia  Fail,  that  he 
might  secure  the  Scottish  throne  to  the  Irish  race  for 
ever. 

St.  Brigid,  the  celebrated  abbess  of  the  monastery  of 
Kildare,  died  during  this  reign.    She  was  of  noble  birth, 
4 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


and  descended  from  Conn  of  the  Hundred  Battles. 
But  she  ennobled  her  life  by  charities,  incomparably 
greater  than  any  merely  inherited  honor.  Her  fame  is 
chiefly  connected  with  her  monastery  at  Kildare, —  in 
Irish,  Cell  Dare,  or  the  Church  of  the  Oak.  She  trav- 
ersed the  whole  country  at  different  periods,  and  every- 
where left  monuments  of  her  humility  and  zeal.  St. 
Brigid  died,  at  an  advanced  age,  on  February  1,  525. 
She  was  reverenced  in  Scotland  as  well  as  in  Ireland  ; 
and  the  western  isles,  Hy  Brides,  are  said  to  have  their 
name  from  her. 

In  the  year  543,  Ireland  was  desolated  by  one  of  those 
mysterious  pestilences  which  defy  all  calculation  as  to 
their  cause.  This  plague  is  called  by  Irish  writers  the 
Blefed,  or  the  Grom  Chonaill ;  the  latter  term  indicates  a 
sickness  which  produced  a  yellow  color  in  the  skin.  It 
originated  in  the  East ;  and  in  Ireland  was  preceded  by 
famine,  and  followed  by  leprosy. 

Diarmaid,  son  of  Fergus,  head  of  the  southern  Hy- 
Nial  race  was  Ard-Righ  during  this  period.  He  reigned 
for  twenty  years,  and  is  much  praised  by  the  annalists 
for  his  integrit}^.  Domestic  dissensions,  the  curse  of 
Ireland  from  her  earliest  existence  to  the  present  time, 
were  not  suspended  even  during  this  fearful  visitation. 
Diarmaid  was  at  war  with  Guaire,  king  of  Connaught,  ac- 
cording to  one  account  to  chastise  an  act  of  injustice, 
according  to  another  to  enforce  payment  of  a  tribute. 
The  cause  probably  mattered  little,  for  a  casus  belli  was 
seldom  wanted  in  those  ages. 

Diarmaid  was  the  last  Ard-Righ  who  resided  at  Tara  ; 
and  the  last  convention  of  the  Irish  Pentarchy  was 
p  held  there  by  him  a.  d.  554.  Soon  after,  St.  Rodanus 
of  Lothra,  in  Tipperary,  pronounced  a  solemn  maledic- 
tion on  the  place,  in  punishment  for  violation  of  the 
saint's  sanctuary  by  the  king.  The  royal  hill  was 
deserted;  no  monarch  dared  to  reside  there ;  and  so 
complete  was  the  desolation,  that  in  915  it  is  described 
as  a  desert  grown  over  with  weeds.  Enough,  however, 
still  remains  to  give  ample  evidence  of  its  former  great- 
ness and  extent.  From  this  period,  the  Ard-Righs  of 
Ireland  resided  in  different  places.  The  monarchs  of 
the  northern  Hy-Nial  race  lived  at  the  ancient  fortress 
of  Aileach,  near  Derry.    The  monarchs  of  the  southern 


ST.  COLUMBA. 


T5 


Hy-Nials  lived  at  one  time  at  the  Rath,  near  Castlepol- 
lard,  and  subsequently  at  Dun~na-Sciath,  near  Mullin- 
gar. 

The  latter  part  of  Diarmaid's  reign  was  disturbed  by 
dissensions  with  St.  Columba,  the  great  apostle  of  the 
Picts.  St.  Columba's  father,  Fedhlime,  was  a  grandson 
of  Conall  Gulban,  son  of  Nial  of  the  Nine  Hostages. 
His  mother,  Erca,  was  descended  directly  from  Loarn, 
one  of  the  founders  of  the  Dalariadic  colony  in  Scotland. 
Hence  the  saint  was  necessarily  connected  with  many 
of  the  political  disturbances  of  the  times. 

The  immediate  subject  of  dispute  was  a  book,  and 
the  right  of  sanctuary.  In  that  age,  the  subjects  were 
of  considerable  importance.  A  book  was  considered  of 
almost  as  much  value  as  one  of  the  many  petty  king- 
doms into  which  the  country  was  divided ;  the  right 
of  sanctuary,  apart  from  all  religious  considerations, 
was  one  of  the  greatest  social  blessings  of  an  age  of 
frequent  violence  and  injustice. 

St.  Columba  had  borrowed  a  book  from  St.  Pinnen, 
and  had  copied  some  portions  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures 
from  it,  without  his  friend's  permission.  A  discussion 
arose  upon  the  merits  of  the  case,  and  Diarmaid  was 
chosen  arbitrator.  He  decided  against  Columba,  and 
even  required  that  he  should  give  up  the  copy  which  he 
had  made,  assigning  as  a  ground  for  his  unjust  judg- 
ment the  Irish  proverb,  that  "the  calf  should  follow 
the  cow,"  and  so  the  copy  should  follow  the  book, 
of  sanctuary.    The  young  son  of  the  King  of  Con- 

The  breach  was  still  further  widened  by  a  violation 
naught  killed  the  son  of  Diarmaid's  steward  acciden- 
tally, while  engaged  in  a  game  of  hurling  at  Tara.  This 
was  precisely  one  of  the  cases  for  which  sanctuary  was 
provided,  and  in  which  its  privileges  should  have  been 
deemed  most  sacred.  Diarmaid  commanded  the  unfor- 
tunate youth  to  be  put  to  death,  and  he  was  torn  from 
the  very  arms  of  St.  Columba,  and  executed  without 
mercy.  Columba  threatened  the  king  with  vengeance 
from  his  powerful  race,  and  Diarmaid  placed  a  guard 
over  him  to  prevent  his  escape.  But,  according  to  the 
Annals,  "  the  justice  of  God  threw  a  veil  of  unrecogni- 
tion"  around  him,  and  he  escaped.  As  he  traversed 
the  lonely  plains  between  Tara  and  his  native  Tyrcon- 


76 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


nell,  he  composed  and  chanted  one  of  the  most  noble 
and .  sublime  canticles  on  record,  which  commences 
thus  :  — 

Alone  am  I  upon  the  mountain, 

O  King  of  Heaven,  prosper  my  way; 

And  then  nothing  need  I  fear, 

More  than  if  guarded  by  six  thousand  men. 

The  outrage  on  sanctuary  was  amply  chastised  by 
Columba's  kindred.  Aedh,  king"  of  Connaught,  and 
father  of  the  unfortunate  youth,  was  joined  by  the 
Hy-Nials,  and  the  Cinel  Owen,  and  Cinel  Conaill,  St. 
Columba's  relatives.  A  fierce  battle  was  fought  at 
Cuildrevne,  near  Sligo,  a.  d.  561,  where  Diarmaid  and 
his  clans  were  defeated. 

The  copy  of  the  Psalms,  which  was  the  original  cause 
of  dispute,  still  exists.  It  consists  of  fifty -eight  leaves 
of  fine  vellum,  written  in  a  small  uniform  hand,  with 
some  slight  attempt  at  illumination.  The  caligraphy 
indicates  a  work  completed  in  considerable  haste. 

The  first  great  convention  of  the  Irish  States,  after 
the  abandonment  of  Tara,  was  held  at  Drumceat,  a.  d. 
573,  in  the  reign  of  Hugh,  son  of  Ainmire.  St.  Co- 
lumba  and  the  leading  members  of  the  Irish  clergy 
attended.  Precedence  was  given  to  the  saint  by  the 
prelates  of  North  Britain,  to  honor  his  capacity  of  apos- 
tle or  founder  of  the  Church  in  that  country. 

Two  important  subjects  were  discussed  on  this  occa- 
sion, and  on  each  the  opinion  of  St.  Columba  was 
accepted  as  definitive.  The  first  referred  to  the  long- 
vexed  question,  whether  the  Scottish  colony  of  Alba 
should  still  be  considered  dependent  on  the  mother 
country.  The  saint,  foreseeing  the  annoyances  to 
which  a  continuance  of  this  dependence  must  give  rise, 
advised  that  it  should  be  henceforth  respected  as  an  in- 
dependent state.  The  second  question  was  one  of  less 
importance  in  the  abstract,  but  far  more  difficult  to 
settle  satisfactorily.  The  bards,  or  more  probably  per- 
sons who  wished  to  enjoy  their  immunities  and  priv- 
ileges without  submitting  to  the  ancient  laws  which 
obliged  them  to  undergo  a  long  and  severe  course  of 
study  before  becoming  licentiates,  if  we  may  use  the 
expression,  of  that  honorable  calling,  had  become  so 
numerous  and  troublesome,  that  loud  demands  were 
made  for  their  entire  suppression.    The  king,  who  prob- 


ASSASSINATION  OF  SWEENE  MEN. 


ably  suffered  from  their  insolence  as  much  as  any  of 
his  subjects,  was  inclined  to  comply  with  the  popular 
wish,  but  yielded  so  far  to  the  representations  of  St. 
Columba  as  merely  to  diminish  their  numbers,  and 
place  them  under  stricter  rules. 

Hugh  Ainmire  was  killed  while  endeavoring  to  exact 
the  Boromean  Tribute.  The  place  of  his  death  was 
called  Dunbolg,  or  the  Fort  of  the  Bags.  The  Leinster 
king,  Bran  Dubh,  had  recourse  to  a  stratagem,  from 
whence  the  name  was  derived.  Finding  himself  unable 
to  cope  with  the  powerful  army  of  his  opponent,  he  en- 
tered his  camp  disguised  as  a  leper,  and  spread  a  report 
that  the  Leinster  men  were  preparing  to  submit. 

In  the  evening,  a  number  of  bullocks,  laden  with 
leathern  bags,  were  seen  approaching  the  royal  camp. 
The  drivers,  when  challenged  by  the  sentinels,  said  that 
they  were  bringing  provisions  ;  and  this  so  tallied  with 
the  leper's  tale,  that  they  were  permitted  to  deposit 
their  burdens  without  further  inquiry.  In  the  night, 
however,  an  armed  man  sprang  from  each  bag,  and, 
headed  by  their  king,  whose  disguise  was  no  longer 
needed,  slaughtered  the  royal  army  without  mercy, 
Hugh  himself  falling  a  victim  to  the  personal  bravery 
of  Bran  Dubh. 

The  northern  and  southern  Hy-Nials  had  long  held 
rule  in  Ireland;  but  while  the  northern  tribe  were  ever 
distinguished,  not  only  for  their  valor,  but  for  their 
chivalry  in  field  or  court,  the  southern  race  fell  daily 
lower  in  the  estimation  of  their  countrymen.  Their  dis- 
grace was  completed  when  two  kings,  who  ruled  Erin 
jointly,  were  treacherously  slain  by  Conall  Guthvin. 
For  this  crime,  the  family  were  excluded  from  regal 
honors  for  several  generations. 

In  623  Congal  Caech,  king  of  Ulster,  assassinated  the 
reigning  sovereign,  Sweene  Men,  while  he  was  playing 
chess  on  the  green  before  his  royal  residence.  He 
?  was  vanquished  in  battle  the  following  year  by  Sweene's 
successor,  and  obliged  to  fly  from  the  country  into 
Britain,  where  he  remained  nine  years.  During  his 
exile  he  contrived  to  ingratiate  himself  with  Saxons  and 
Britons,  Picts  and  Scots,  and  to  prepare  for  a  hostile 
invasion  of  Ireland.  He  returned  to  his  native  land  in 
634,  and  encountered  the  forces  of  the  Ard-Righ,  at 


78 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


Magh  Rath,  now  Moira,  in  the  county  Down,  where  he 
was  slain,  and  his  foreign  and  native  auxiliaries  were 
completely  routed.  This  engagement  is  one  of  consid- 
erable note  in  the  early  annals  of  Ireland. 

In  the  year  656  Ireland  was  again  visited  by  the  fatal 
Grom  Ghonaill.  Many  orphans  were,  of  necessity, 
thrown  on  the  mercy  of  those  to  whom  charity  was  ■ 
their  only  claim.  Nor  was  the  call  unheeded.  The 
venerable  bishop  of  Ardbraccan,  St.  Ultan,  whom  we 
may  perhaps  term  the  St.  Vincent  of  Ireland,  gathered 
these  hapless  little  ones  into  a  safe  asylum,  and  there, 
with  a  thoughtfulness  which  in  such  an  age  could 
scarcely  have  been  expected,  sought  to  supply  by  arti- 
ficial means  the  natural  nourishment  of  which  they  had 
been  deprived. 

Bede,  mentioning  this  pestilence,  gives  honorable  tes- 
timony to  the  charity  of  the  Irish,  not  only  to  their  own 
people,  but  even  to  strangers.  He  says:  "This  pes- 
tilence did  no  less  harm  in  the  island  of  Ireland.  Many 
of  the  nobility,  and  of  the  lower  ranks  of  the  English 
nation,  were  there  at  that  time,  who,  in  the  days  of 
bishop  Finan  and  Colman,  forsaking  their  native  land, 
retired  thither,  either  for  the  sake  of  divine  studies,  or 
for  a  more  continent  life.  The  Scots  willingly  received 
them  all,  and  took  care  to  supply  them  with  food,  as 
also  to  furnish  them  with  books  to  read  and  their  teach- 
ing gratis/7 

In  673  Finnachta  Fleadhach,  or  the  Hospitable,  began 
his  reign.  He  yielded  to  the  entreaties  of  St.  Moling, 
and  remitted  the  Boromean  Tribute,  after  he  had  forced 
it  from  the  Leinster  men  in  a  bloody  battle.  In  687  he 
abdicated,  and  embraced  the  monastic  state.  In  684 
the  Irish  coasts  were  devastated,  and  even  the  churches 
pillaged,  by  the  soldiers  of  Egfrid,  the  Saxon  king  of 
Northumbria.  Bede  attributes  his  subsequent  defeat 
and  death,  when  fighting  against  the  Picts,  to  the  judg- 
ment of  God.  St.  Adamnan  was  sent  to  Northumbria, 
after  the  death  of  this  prince,  to  obtain  the  release  of 
the  captives.  His  mission  was  successful,  and  he  was 
honored  there  as  the  worker  of  many  miracles. 

The  generosity  of  Finnachta  failed  to  settle  the 
vexed  question  of  tribute.  Comgal,  who  died  in  708, 
ravaged  Leinster  as  fiercely  as  his  predecessors,  and 


DEFEAT  OF  THE  LEINSTER  MEN. 


79 


Fearghal,  his  successor,  invaded  it  ''five  times  in  one 
year."  Three  wonderful  showers  are  said  to  have 
fallen  in  the  eighth  year  of  his  reign  (a.  d.  716  accord- 
ing to  the  Four  Masters)  —  a  shower  of  silver,  a  shower 
of  honey,  and  a  shower  of  blood.  These  were,  of 
course,  considered  portents  of  the  awful  Danish  inva- 
sions. Fearghal  was  killed  at  the  battle  of  Almhain 
(Allen,  near  Kildare),  in  118.  In  this  engagement,  the 
Leinster  men  numbered  only  nine  thousand,  while  their 
opponents  numbered  twenty-one  thousand.  The  Lein- 
ster men,  however,  made  up  for  numbers  by  their  valor ; 
and  it  is  said  that  the  intervention  of  a  hermit,  who 
reproached  Fearghal  with  breaking  the  pacific  promise 
of  his  predecessor,  contributed  to  the  defeat  of  the 
northern  forces.  Another  battle  took  place  in  733, 
when  Hugh  Allan,  king  of  Ireland,  and  Hugh,  son  of 
Colgan,  king  of  Leinster,  engaged  in  single  combat. 
The  latter  was  slain,  and  the  Leinster  men  "  were  killed, 
slaughtered,  cut  off,  and  dreadfully  exterminated. " 
In  fact,  the  Leinster  men  endured  so  many  "  dreadful 
exterminations, "  that  one  almost  marvels  how  any  of 
their  brave  fellows  were  left  for  future  feats  of  arms. 
The  "  northerns  were  joyous  after  this  victory,  for  they 
had  wreaked  their  vengeance  and  their  animosity  upon 
the  Leinster  men,"  nine  thousand  of  whom  were  slain. 
St.  Samhthann,  a  holy  nun,  who  died  in  the  following 
year,  is  said  to  have  predicted  the  fate  of  Aedh,  Com- 
gaPs  son,  if  the  two  Aedhs  (Hughs)  met,  Aedh  Allan 
commemorated  her  virtues  in  verse,  and  concludes 
thus : — 

In  the  bosom  of  the  Lord,  with  a  pure  death,  Samhthann  passed 
from  her  sufferings. 

Indeed,  the  Irish  kings  of  this  period  manifested  their 
admiration  of  peaceful  living,  and  their  desire  for  holy 
deaths,  in  a  more  practical  way  than  by  poetic  enco- 
miums on  others.  In  704  Beg  Boirche  "took  a  pil- 
grim's staff,  and  died  on  his  pilgrim  age. "  In  729  Fla- 
hertach  renounced  his  regal  honors,  and  retired  to 
Armagh,  where  he  died.  In  758  Donal  died  on  a  pil- 
grimage at  Iona,  after  a  reign  of  twenty  years  ;  and  in 
765  his  successor,  Nial  Frassagh,  abdicated  the  throne, 
and  became  a  monk  at  Iona.  Here  he  died  in  778,  and 
was  buried  in  the  tomb  of  the  Irish  kings  in  that  island. 


80 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


An  Irish  poet  who  died  in  742,  is  said  to  have  played 
a  clever  trick  on  the  "  foreigners  "  of  Dublin.  He  com- 
posed a  poem  for  them,  and  then  requested  payment 
for  his  literary  labors.  The  Galls,  who  were  probably 
Saxons,  refused  to  meet  his  demand,  but  Rumrann  said 
he  would  be  content  with  two  pinguins  (pennies)  from 
every  good  man,  and  one  from  each  bad  one.  The 
result  may  be  anticipated.  Rumrann  is  described  as 
"an  adept  in  wisdom,  chronology,  and  poetry ;  "  we 
might,  perhaps,  add,  and  in  knowledge  of  human  nature. 
In  "  The  Book  of  Ballymote  "  he  is  called  the  Virgil  of 
Ireland.  A  considerable  number  of  Saxons  were  now 
in  the  country  ;  and  it  is  said  that  a  British  king,  named 
Constantine,  who  had  become  a  monk,  was  at  that  time 
Abbot  of  Rahen,  in  the  King's  County,  and  that  at  Cell- 
Belaigh  there  were  seven  streets  of  those  foreigners. 
Gallen,  in  the  King's  County,  was  called  Galin  of  the 
Britons,  and  Mayo  was  called  Mayo  of  the  Saxons,  from 
the  number  of  monasteries  therein,  founded  by  members 
of  these  nations. 

The  entries  during  the  long  reign  of  Domhnall  contain 
little  save  obituaries  of  abbots  and  saints.  The  first 
year  of  the  reign  of  Nial  Frassagh  is,  like  the  eighth  of 
Fearghal,  distinguished  by  a  triple  shower  —  of  silver, 
of  wheat,  and  of  honey.  The  Annals  of  Clonmacnois 
say  that  there  was  a  most  severe  famine  throughout 
the  whole  kingdom  during  the  early  part  of  his  reign, 
so  much  that  the  king  himself  had  very  little  to  live 
upon.  Then  the  king  prayed  very  fervently  to  God, 
being  in  company  with  seven  holy  bishops  ;  and  he 
asked  that  he  might  die  rather  than  see  so  many  of  his 
faithful  subjects  perishing,  while '  he  was  helpless  to 
relieve  them.  At  the  conclusion  of  his  prayer,  the 
" three  showers "  fell  from  heaven;  and  then  the  king 
and  the  seven  bishops  gave  great  thanks  to  the  Lord. 

But  a  more  terrible  calamity  than  famine  was  even 
then  impending,  and,  if  we  may  believe  the  old  chron- 
iclers, not  without  marvellous  prognostications  of  its 
approach.  In  the  year  761  there  occurred  a  most  fear- 
ful storm  of  thunder  and  lightning  with  "terrific  and 
horrible  signs.' '  It  would  appear  that  the  storm  took 
place  while  a  fair  was  going  on,  which  obtained  the 
name  of  the  "  Fair  of  the  clapping  of  hands."    "  Fear 


NATIONAL  CONVERSION  OF  IRELAND. 


81 


and  horror  seized  the  men  of  Ireland,  so  that  their 
religious  seniors  ordered  them  to  make  two  fasts, 
together  with  fervent  prayer,  and  one  meal  between 
them,  to  protect  and  save  them  from  a  pestilence,  pre- 
cisely at  Michaelmas/7  Another  fearful  thunderstorm 
is  recorded  in  the  Annals  for  799.  This  happened  on 
the  eve  of  St.  Patrick's  Day.  It  is  said  that  a  thou- 
sand and  ten  persons  were  killed  on  the  coast  of  Clare. 
The  island  of  Fitha  (now  Mutton  Island)  was  partly 
submerged,  and  divided  into  three  parts.  There  was 
also  a  storm  in  783  —  ".thunder,  lightning,  and  wind- 
storms"—  by  which  the  monastery  of  Clonbroney  was 
destroyed. 

1  The  researches  of  philologists  are  daily  confirming 
the  statements  of  hagiographers  as  to  the  extent  and 
importance  of  the  missionary  zeal  of  the  Irish  monks 
during  the  fifth  and  sixth  centuries.  Their  literary 
attainments  are  evinced  by  the  number  of  manuscripts 
which  they  have  left,  and  the  exquisite  skill  in  illumi- 
nation which  these  manuscripts  display.  Their  devotion 
to  their  great  work  of  evangelizing  the  heathen  is 
recorded  by  their  biographers,  and  proved  by  the  rev- 
erence still  offered  to  their  memory  in  foreign  countries. 

These  Irish  saints  have  been  divided  into  three  orders, 
in  an  old  catalogue  published  by  Usher.  The  first 
order  were  the  immediate  contemporaries  of  St.  Patrick, 
and  are  described  as  if  enveloped  in  flame,  so  great  was 
their  purity  and  zeal.  The  second  order,  of  which  St. 
Columba  of  the  Celts  is  the  head,  were  the  successors 
of  St.  Patrick,  and  they  were  described  as  mountains  on 
fire.  The  third  order  are  compared  to  bright  lamps 
glimmering  in  the  valley. 

There  can  be  no  reasonable  doubt  as  to  the  complete 
national  conversion  of  Ireland  by  St.  Patrick,  though 
for  several  centuries  some  pagans  remained,  and  much 
paganism  continued  in  national  customs  and  modes  of 
expression,  always  difficult  to  eradicate.  The  Christian 
missionaries  adopted  the  prudent  course  of  attracting 
rather  than  compelling.  Thus,  where  pagans  had 
erected  an  altar  to  a  false  god,  they  led  them  gradually 
to  the  service  of  "Him  whom  they  ignorantly  wor- 
shipped," and  then  taught  them  to  build  a  temple  in 
His  honor.    Pagan  customs  were  absolutely  forbidden 


82 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


when  absolutely  sinful,  but  where  it  was  possible  to 
turn  the  current  of  demotion  to  its  true  source,  it  was 
thus  turned,  and  not  rudely  stopped.  Thus  in  Ireland 
the  pagan  custom  of  invoking  the  gods  or  making  some 
aspirations  to  avert  their  wrath  on  certain  occasions, 
was  at  once  and  easily  Christianized  by  introducing  the 
use  of  Christian  aspirations  instead  of  pagan. 

St.  Kieran  of  Saighir  is  called  by  his  biographer  "  the 
first-born  of  the  Saints  of  Ireland."  His  church  at 
Cape  Clear  is  said  to  have  been  the  earliest  Christian 
church  erected  in  Ireland  ;  its  ruins  still  remain.  He 
afterwards  established  the  monastery  of  Seir-Kieran  in 
the  King's  County.  This  saint  is  supposed  to  have 
ended  his  life  in  Cornwall,  and  to  be  identical  with  St. 
Piran,  whose  little  church  at  Piranzabuloe  is  well  known. 

Another  St.  Kieran  founded  the  magnificent  church 
and  monastery  of  Clonmacnois  on  the  Shannon  a.  d.  548. 
The  ruins  of  this  religious  establishment  still  remain, 
and  amply  attest  its  former  greatness.  Kings,  saints, 
and  scholars  lived  and  died  within  its  peaceful  walls, 
where  their  burial-places  may  still  be  identified.  The 
southern  Hy-Nial  princes  were  usually  interred  in  the 
cemetery  of  Clonmacnois,  where  also  may  be  seen  the 
tomb  of  one  of  the  three  learned  Irishmen  who  visited 
King  Alfred  in  the  year  891,  and  is  said  to  have  as- 
sisted at  the  foundation  of  the  university  of  Oxford. 

St.  Finnain  of  Clonard  belonged  to  the  second  order 
of  saints.  He  established  his  celebrated  school  a.  d. 
530,  where  St.  Columba,  the  missionary  of  the  Picts, 
was  educated.  Aran  of  the  saints,  as  the  western 
islands  off  Galway  Bay  were  then  termed,  was  peopled 
by  monks  and  recluses  from  the  fifth  to  the  seventh  cen- 
turies. St,  Enda,  son  of  the  prince  of  Orgiall,  who  had 
distinguished  himself  as  a  warrior,  renounced  the  bat- 
tle-axe for  the  cowl,  and  established  himself  in  one  of 
the  largest  of  the  three  islands.  In  580  he  travelled  to 
Rome,  and  returned  accompanied  by  one  hundred  and 
fifty  monks,  all  of  whom  lived  and  died  in  his  monastery. 
Intercourse  with  Rome  was  frequent  even  at  that  early 
period,  and  Ireland  attracted  continental  monks,  no 
doubt  by  the  learning  and  sanctity  of  those  who  visited 
the  tombs  of  the  apostles,  and  the  greater  centre  of 
Catholic  unity.    A  tomb  still  remains  at  Klbrecan  in 


st.  Brendan's  voyages. 


83 


the  north  part  of  Cavan,  inscribed  to  the  memory  of 
the  "  seven  Romans."  In  the  litany  of  St.  Aengus, 
hundreds  of  foreign  saints  are  invoked,  each  grouped 
according  to  their  nationality.  "  The  oldest  tract,  or 
collection  of  the  pedigrees  of  the  saints  of  Erinn,"  says 
Professor  O'Curry,  uof  which  we  have  now  any  recog- 
nizable copy  remaining,  is  that  which  is  ascribed  to 
Aengus  Ceile  De,  commonly  called  Aengus  the  Culdee. 
The  genuineness  of  this  composition  is  admitted  by  all 
writers  of  modern  times,  Protestant  and  Catholic,  by 
Usher  and  Ware,  as  well  as  by  Colgan." 

Aengus  wrote  about  the  year  798.  He  was  descended 
from  the  illustrious  chieftains  of  Dalariada,  and  com- 
pleted his  education  in  the  monastery  of  Cluain  Eidh- 
neach,  in  the  present  Queen's  County.  The  remains 
of  a  church  he  founded  at  Disert  Aengusa,  near  Ballin- 
garry,  in  the  county  of  Limerick,  may  still  be  seen. 

The  well-known  monastic  establishment  at  Glenda- 
lough,  in  the  county  Wicklow,  was  founded  by  St. 
Kieran,  who  died  in  618.  One  of  the  most  noticeable 
and  best-known  saints  of  this  period  was  St.  Brendan, 
whose  voyage  across  the  Atlantic  in  search  of  the  mys- 
terious island  of  Hy-Brasail  became  one  of  the  most 
favorite  subjects  of  mediaeval  romances  and  poets.  His 
early  youth  was  passed  under  the  care  of  St.  Ita,  a 
lady  of  the  princely  family  of  the  Desii.  By  divine 
command  she  established  the  convent  of  Cluain  Cred- 
huil,  in  the  present  county  of  Limerick,  and  there,  it 
would  appear,  she  devoted  herself  specially  to  the  care 
of  youth.  When  Brendan  had  attained  his  fifth  year, 
he  was  placed  under  the  protection  of  bishop  Ercus, 
from  whom  he  received  such  instruction  as  befitted  his 
advancing  years.  But  Brendan's  tenderest  affection 
clung  to  the  gentle  nurse  of  his  infancy ;  and  to  her,  in 
after  years,  he  frequently  returned,  to  give  or  receive 
counsel  and  sympathy. 

The  legend  of  his  western  voyage,  if  not  the  most 
important,  is  at  least  the  most  interesting  part  of  his 
history.  Kerry  was  the  native  home  of  the  enterpris- 
ing saint;  and  as  he  stood  on  its  bold  and  beautiful 
shores,  his  naturally  contemplative  mind  was  led  to 
inquire  what  boundaries  chained  that  vast  ocean,  whose 
grand  waters  rolled  in  mighty  wafes  beneath  his  feet. 


84 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


His  thoughtful  piety  suggested  that  where  there  might 
be  a  country,  there  might  be  life  —  human  life  and 
human  souls  dying  day  by  day,  and  hour  by  hour, 
and  knowing  of  no  other  existence  than  that  which 
at  best  is  full  of  sadness  and  decay. 

Traditions  of  a  far-away  land  had  long  existed  on  the 
western  coast  of  ancient  Erin.  The  brave  Tuatha  De 
Dananns  were  singularly  expert  in  naval  affairs,  and 
their  descendants  were  by  no  means  unwilling  to  impart 
information  to  the  saint. 

The  venerable  St.  Enda,  the  first  abbot  of  Arran, 
was  then  living,  and  thither  St.  Brendan  journeyed  for 
counsel.  Probably  he  was  encouraged  in  his  design 
by  the  holy  abbot;  for  he  proceeded  along  the  coast  of 
Mayo,  inquiring  as  he  went  for  traditions  of  the  west- 
ern continent.  On  his  return  to  Kerry,  he  decided  to 
set  out  on  the  important  expedition.  St.  Brendan's 
Hill  still  bears  his  name  ;  and  from  the  bay  at  the  foot 
of  this  lofty  eminence  he  sailed  for  the  "far  west." 
Directing  his  course  towards  the  southwest,  with  a 
few  faithful  companions,  in  a  well-provisioned  bark,  he 
came,  it  is  said,  after  some  rough  and  dangerous  navi- 
gation, to  calm  seas,  where,  without  aid  of  oar  or  sail, 
he  was  borne  along  for  many  weeks.  It  is  thought  that 
he  had  entered  the  great  Gulf  Stream,  which  brought 
his  vessel  ashore  somewhere  on  the  Virginian  coasts. 
He  landed  with  his  companions,  and  penetrated  into  the 
interior,  until  he  came  to  a  large  river  flowing  from 
east  to  west,  supposed  to  be  that  now  known  as  the 
Ohio.  Here,  according  to  the  legend,  he  was  accosted 
by  a  man  of  venerable  bearing,  who  told  him  that  he 
had  gone  far  enough  ;  that  further  discoveries  were 
reserved  for  other  men,  who  would  in  due  time  come 
and  Christianize  that  pleasant  land. 

After  an  absence  of  seven  years,  the  saint  returned 
once  more  to  Ireland,  and  lived  not  only  to  tell  of  the 
marvels  he  had  seen,  but  even  to  found  a  college  of 
three  thousand  monks  at  Clonfert.  This  voyage  took 
place  in  the  year  545,  according  to  Colgan  ;  but  as  St. 
Brendan  must  have  been  at  that  time  at  least  sixty 
years  old,  an  earlier  date  has  been  suggested.1 

1  The  legend  of  St.  Brendan  was  widely  diffused  in  the  Middle 
Ages.  In  the  Mbliotheque*Imperialef  at  Paris,  there  are  no  less  than 


ST.  COLUMBANUS. 


85 


St.  Columba,  or  Columcille  —  that  is,  Columba  of  the 
cells  or  churches  —  has  already  been  mentioned  in  con- 
nection with  the  political  history  of  the  period.  The 
most  beautiful  manuscript  of  western  Europe  known, 
is  the  "  Book  of  Kells,"  and  now  preserved  in  the 
Library  of  Trinity  College,  Dublin,  is  ascribed  to  him. 
The  "  Book  of  Durrow,"  another  Irish  manuscript  of 
great  antiquity,  is  also  believed  to  be  one  of  his  pro- 
ductions. 

St.  Columba  died  at  Iona,  on  the  9th  of  June,  597. 
His  biography  has  been  written  in  detail  by  his  succes- 
sor, St.  Adamnan. 

The  first  of  Irish  missionary  laborers  on  the  Conti- 
nent was  another  saint  of  similar  name.  St.  Columba- 
nus  was  born  about  the  year  539.  The  care  of  his 
education  was  confided  to  the  venerable  Senile,  who 
was  eminent  for  his  sanctity  and  knowledge  of  the 
Holy  Scriptures.  It  was  probably  through  his  influ- 
ence that  the  young  man  resolved  to  devote  himself  to 
the  monastic  life.  For  this  purpose,  he  placed  himself 
under  the  direction  of  St.  Comgall,  who  then  governed 
the  great  monastery  of  Banchorr  (Bangor). 

It  was  not  until  he  entered  his  fiftieth  year  that  he 
decided  on  quitting  his  native  land,  so  that  there  can 
be  no  reason  to  doubt  that  his  high  intellectual  attain- 
ments were  acquired  and  perfected  in  Ireland. 

With  the  blessing  of  his  superior,  and  the  compan- 
ionship of  twelve  faithful  monks,  he  set  forth  on  his 
arduous  mission  ;  and  arduous  truly  it  proved  to  be. 
The  half-barbarous  Franks,  then  ruled  by  Thierry  or 
Theodoric,  lived  more  a  pagan  than  a  Christian  life,  and 

eleven  manuscripts  of  the  original  Latin  legend,  the  dates  of  which 
vary  from  the  eleventh  to  the  fourteenth  century.  In  the  old  French 
and  Romance  dialects  there  are  abundant  copies  in  most  public 
libraries  in  France;  while  versions  in  Irish,  Dutch,  German,  Italian, 
Spanish,  and  Portuguese,  abound  in  all  parts  of  the  Continent. 
Traces  of  ante-Columbian  voyages  to  America  are  continually  crop- 
ping up.  But  the  appearance,  in  1837,  of  the  Antiquitates  Americance 
sive  ita  Scriptores  Scptentrionales  rerum  ante-Columbiarum,  in  America, 
edited  by  Professor  Ram,  at  Copenhagen,  has  given  final  and  con- 
clusive evidence  on  this  interesting  subject.  Even  in  1833  a  Japan- 
ese junk  was  wrecked  upon  the  coast  of  Oregon.  Humboldt  believes 
that  the  Canary  Isles  were  known,  not  only  to  the  Phoenicians,  but 
"  perhaps  even  to  the  Etruscans."  There  is  a  map  in  the  library  of 
St.  Mark,  at  Venice,  made  in  the  year  1436,  where  an  island  is,  delin- 
eated and  named  Antillia.  (See  Trans,  li.  I.  A.,  vol.  xiv.)  A  distin- 
guished modern  poet  of  Ireland,  Denis  Florence  MacCarthy,  Esq.,  M. 
R.I.  A.,  has  made  the  voyage  of  St.  Brendan  the  subject  of  one  of 
the  most  beautiful  of  his  poems. 


86 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


could  ill  brook  the  stern  lessons  of  morality  which  they 
heard  from,  and  saw  practised  by,  their  new  teacher. 
The  saint  did  not  spare  the  demoralized  court,  and  the 
Queen-Dowager  Brunehalt  became  his  bitterest  foe. 
He  had  already  established  two  monasteries  :  one  at 
Luxovium,  or  Luxeuil,  in  a  forest  at  the  foot  of  the 
Vosges ;  the  other,  on  account  of  its  number  of  springs, 
was  called  Ad-fontanas  (Fontaines).  Here  the  strict 
discipline  of  the  Irish  monks  was  rigidly  observed,  and 
the  coarsest  fare  the  only  refection  permitted  to  the 
religious. 

For  a  time  they  were  allowed  to  continue  their  daily 
routine  of  prayer  and  penance  without  molestation  ; 
but  the  relentless  Brunehalt,  who,  from  the  basest  mo- 
tives, had  encouraged  the  young  king  in  every  vice, 
could  no  longer  brave  either  the  silent  preaching  of  the 
cloister,  or  the  bold  denunciations  of  the  saint.  As 
Columbanus  found  that  his  distant  remonstrances  had 
no  effect  on  the  misguided  monarch,  for  whose  eternal 
welfare  he  felt  the  deep  interest  of  true  sanctity,  he 
determined  to  try  a  personal  interview.  For  a  brief 
space  his  admonitions  were  heard  with  respect,  and 
even  the  haughty  queen  seemed  less  bent  on  her  career 
of  impiety  and  deceit.  But  the  apparent  conversion 
passed  away  as  a  summer  breeze,  and  once  more  the 
saint  denounced  and  threatened  in  vain. 

Strict  enclosure  had  been  established  in  the  monas- 
teries professing  the  Columbanian  rule ;  and  this  af- 
forded a  pretext  for  the  royal  vengeance.  Theodoric 
attempted  to  violate  the  sanctuary  in  person,  but  was 
sternly  repelled  by  the  saint.  The  king  withdrew,  but 
eventually  Columbanus  was  torn  from  the  sanctuary  by 
force.  His  Irish  subjects  were  allowed  to  accompany 
him  into  exile ;  and  after  many  journeys  and  privations, 
he  at  last  settled  at  Milan,  where  he  was  hospitably 
received  by  the  Lombard  king,  a.  d.  612.  On  his  jour- 
ney thither  he  had  evangelized  Austrasia,  then  gov- 
erned by  Theodebert.  This  prince,  though  a  brother 
of  the  monarch  by  whom  he  had  been  expelled,  enter- 
tained him  with  the  utmost  courtesy.  At  Mentz,  the 
bishop,  vainly  endeavored  to  detain  him.  Zeal  for  the 
conversion  of  souls  led  the  saint  to  desire  a  less  culti-  • 
vated  field  of  labor.    As  he  passed  along  the  Lake  of 


IRISH  MONKS  ON  THE  CONTINENT. 


8T 


Zurich,  and  in  the  canton  of  Zug,  he  reaped  a  rich  har- 
vest ;  from  thence  he  directed  his  course  to  Bregentz, 
then  inhabited  by  an  idolatrous  people. 

Here  he  was  repulsed  by  those  who  most  needed  his 
apostolic  labors ;  but,  undaunted,  he  retired  to  the 
neighboring  county,  where  he  secured  a  band  of  zealous 
converts.  Surrounded  by  these,  and  attended  by  his 
faithful  monks,  he  once  more  entered  the  idolatrous 
city,  and  proceeded  boldly  to  the  temple  where  their 
false  gods  were  enshrined.  Here  he  invoked  the  Holy 
Name,  and  by  its  power  the  idols  are  said  to  have  been 
miraculously  overthrown,  and  a  multitude  of  the  people 
were  converted,  including  in  their  number  some  of  the 
principal  inhabitants  of  Bregentz. 

The  theological  controversy  known  as  that  of  the 
"  Three  Chapters/'  was  now  prevalent  in  northern  Italy. 
A  letter  is  still  extant  which  St.  Columbanus  addressed 
to  Pope  Boniface  on  this  subject,  in  which,  while  he 
uses  the  privilege  of  free  discussion  on  questions  not 
defined  by  the  Church,  he  is  remarkably  explicit  as  to 
his  belief  in  papal  supremacy. 

"  For  we  (Scoti)  Irish  are  disciples  of  St.  Peter  and 
St.  Paul,  and  of  all  the  divinely  inspired  canonical  wri- 
ters, adhering  constantly  to  the  evangelical  and  apos- 
tolical doctrine.  Amongst  us  neither  Jew,  heretic,  nor 
schismatic  can  be  found  ;  but  the  Catholic  faith,  entire 
and  unshaken,  precisely  as  we  have  received  it  from 
you,  who  are  the  successors  of  the  holy  Apostles.  For, 
as  I  have  already  said,  we  are  attached  to  the  chair  of 
St.  Peter ;  and  although  Rome  is  great  and  renowned, 
yet  with  us  it  is  great  and  distinguished  only  on  ac- 
count of  that  apostolic  chair.  Through  the  two  Apos- 
tles of  Christ  you  are  almost  celestial,  and  Rome  is 
the  head  of  the  churches  of  the  world." 

In  the  year  613  St.  Columbanus  founded  the  world- 
famed  monastery  of  Bovium,  or  Bobbio,  on  the  Apen- 
nines, and  an  oratory  dedicated  to  the  Mother  of  God. 
The  saint  died  there  on  the  21st  of  November,  615,  at 
the  age  of  seventy -two  years.  His  name  is  still  pre- 
served in  the  town  of  St.  Columbano,  and  his  memory 
is  venerated  in  France  and  Italy. 

While  the  saint  was  evangelizing  in  Switzerland,  one 
of  his  disciples  became  seriously  ill,  and  was  unable  to 


88 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


travel  farther.  It  was  a  providential  sickness  for  the 
Helvetians.  The  monk  was  an  eloquent  preacher,  and 
well  acquainted  with  their  language,  which  was  a  dia- 
lect of  that  of  the  Franks.  He  evangelized  the  country, 
and  the  town  of  St.  Gall  still  bears  the  name  of  the 
holy  Irishman,  while  his  abbey  contains  many  valuable 
relics  of  the  literature  and  piety  of  his  native  land.  St. 
Gall  died  on  the  16th  of  October,  645,  at  a  very  ad- 
vanced age.  The  monastery  was  not  erected  till  after 
his  decease,  and  it  was  not  till  the  year  1798  that  the 
abbey  lands  were  aggregated  to  the  Swiss  Confedera- 
tion as  one  of  the  cantons. 

Another  Irish  saint,  who  converted  multitudes  in 
Prance,  was  St.  Fiacre.  He  erected  a  monastery  to 
the  Blessed  Virgin,  in  a  forest  near  Meaux.  The  fame 
of  his  sanctity  became  so  great,  and  the  pilgrimage  to 
his  tomb  so  popular,  that  the  French  hackney  coaches 
[fiacre)  obtained  their  name  from  their  constant  employ- 
ment in  journeys  to  his  shrine. 

About  the  same  period  St.  Fursey  founded  a  monas- 
tery near  Burgh  Castle,  in  Suffolk,  where  he  was  kindly 
received  by  Sigbert,  king  of  the  East  Angles.  From 
thence  he  proceeded  to  Lagny,  in  France,  where  his  mis- 
sionary zeal  was  long  remembered.  His  brothers,  St. 
Foillan  and  St.  Altan,  were  his  constant  companions. 
St.  Fursey  died  on  the  16th  of  January,  650,  at  Ma- 
cerius.  His  remains  were  subsequently  translated  to 
Peronne,  in  Picardy.  The  evangelic  labors  of  many  of 
his  Irish  disciples  are  matter  of  history  in  the  Gallic 
Church.  It  is  said  that  the  fame  of  the  Irish  for  their 
skill  in  music  was  so  well  known  on  the  Continent  at 
this  period,  that  St.  Gertrude,  daughter  of  king  Pepin, 
and  abbess  of  Nivelle,  in  Brabant,  invited  the  brothers 
of  St.  Fursey  to  instruct  her  community  in  sacred 
music.  They  complied  with  her  request,  and  soon 
after  erected  a  monastery  at  Fosse,  near  Nivelle.  Nor 
were  the  Scoti  without  their  missionary  martyrs, 
amongst  whom  the  great  St.  Kilian  holds  a  distin- 
guished place.  He  had  sought  and  obtained  permission 
from  the  Holy  See  to  evangelize  Franconia,  and  his  bold 
rebuke  of  the  open  scandal  given  by  the  conduct  of 
the  ruling  prince,  was  the  immediate  cause  of  his  mar- 
tyrdom.   He  was  assassinated  at  midnight,  while  sing- 


usher's  DIVISION  OF  THE  IRISH  SAINTS.  89 

ing  the  Divine  Office  with  two  of  his  faithful  compan- 
ions. Their  remains  were  interred  in  the  church  of 
Wurtzburg,  where  St.  Kilian  is  still  revered  as  its 
patron  and  apostle. 

Amongst  a  host  of  lesser  luminaries  we  find  St.  Mail- 
duf,  from  whom  Malmsbury  has  been  named  ;  St.  Livin, 
who  converted  the  inhabitants  of  Flanders  and  Brabant ; 
St.  Cataldus  and  his  brother,  St.  Donatus,  the  former 
patron  of  the  metropolitan  see  of  Tarentum,  whose 
name  is  still  preserved  in  the  little  town  of  San  Cataldo, 
the  latter,  bishop  of  Lecce,  in  the  kingdom  of  Naples ; 
St.  Virgilius,  called  in  the  ancient  annals,  "  Ferghil,  the 
Geometer/ 7  and  by  Latin  writers  Soli  vagus,  or  the 
"  solitary  wanderer,"  who  died  bishop  of  Saltzburg  ; 
St.  Fridolin  tl  the  traveller/7  son  of  an  Irish  king,  who 
evangelized  Thuringia,  and  was  appointed  by  the  pope 
bishop  of  Buraburgh,  near  Fritzlar,  in  the  year  741  ; 
St.  Sedulius  the  younger,  who  wrote  commentaries  on 
Holy  Scripture,  and  assisted  at  a  council  held  in  Rome, 
in  the  year  721,  under  Gregory  II.  It  is  noticeable 
that  this  saint  was  consecrated  bishop  of  Oreto,  in 
Spain,  while  in  Rome.  When  he  entered  on  the  mis- 
sion thus  confided  to  him,  he  wrote  a  treatise  to  prove 
that,  being  Irish,  he  was  of  Spanish  descent ;  thus 
showing  that  at  this  period  the  idea  of  a  Milesian  ori- 
gin was  common  to  men  of  learning  in  Ireland. 

Usher  observes,  that  the  saints  of  this  period  might  be 
grouped  into  a  fourth  order.  Bede  says  :  "  That  many 
of  the  Scots  (Irish)  came  daily  into  Britain,  and  with 
great  devotion  preached  the  word  and  administered  bap- 
tism. .  .  The  English,  great  and  small,  were,  by  their 
Scottish  (Irish)  masters,  instructed  in  the  rules  and 
observances  of  regular  discipline/'  Eric  of  Auxerre 
writes  thus  to  Charles  the  Bald  :  "  What  shall  I  say 
of  Ireland,  which,  despising  the  dangers  of  the  deep, 
is  migrating  with  her  whole  train  of  philosophers  to  our 
coast  ?  "  Rency,  after  describing  the  poetry  and  litera- 
ture of  ancient  Erin  as  perhaps  the  most  cultivated  of  all 
Western  Europe,  adds,  that  Ireland  "  counted  a  host 
of  saints  and  learned  men,  venerated  in  England  and 
Gaul ;  for  no  country  had  furnished  more  Christian  mis- 
sionaries/7 It  is  said  that  three  thousand  students, 
collected  from  all  parts  of  Europe,  attended  the  schools 


90 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


of  Armagh ;  and,  indeed,  the  regulations  which  were 
made  for  preserving  scholastic  discipline  are  almost 
sufficient  evidence  on  this  subject. 

The  discussions  of  the  Irish  and  English  ecclesiastics 
on  the  time  of  keeping  Easter,  with  their  subsequent 
decision,  and  all  details  concerning  domestic  regulations 
as  to  succession  to  office  and  church  lands,  are  more 
properly  matters  for  the  ecclesiastical  historian. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  REGULATIONS. 


91 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE  RELIGION,  LAWS,  ARCHITECTURE,  DRESS,  AND 
SOCIAL  CUSTOMS  OF  THE  FIFTH,  SIXTH,  AND 
SEVENTH  CENTURIES. 

A  considerable  number  of  the  early  converts  to  Chris- 
tianity devoted  themselves  to  the  religious  life.  Hav- 
ing placed  themselves  under  the  guidance  of  a  superior, 
they  employed  in  active  missionary  labors  or  in  literary 
work  the  time  not  given  to  the  immediate  service  of 
God  in  prayer.  The  missionary  labors  of  the  Irish 
clergy  have  been  detailed  as  fully  as  circumstances 
would  admit ;  hence  it  only  remains  to  record  their 
other  occupations.  One  important  duty  which  devolved 
on  the  heads  of  religious  houses,  who  were  generally 
bishops,  and  which  of  necessity  occupied  the  episco- 
pacy still  more,  was  the  framing  of  ecclesiastical  regu- 
lations or  canons.  Fortunately,  some  of  these  canons 
are  still  preserved,  as  well  as  many  of  the  literary 
works  of  the  monks. 

The  earliest  canons  are  referred  to  the  time  of  St. 
Patrick,  and  are  found  in  the  11  Book  of  Armagh,"  and 
in  that  portion  of  it  which  is  said  to  have  been  copied 
from  an  older  manuscript  written  by  the  saint  himself. 
The  authenticity  and  antiquity  of  the  "  Book  of  Ar- 
magh" have  never  been  questioned.  These  canons 
refer  specially  to  the  settlement  of  questions  of  difficulty 
which  might  arise  in  ecclesiastical  administration,  and 
require  that  all  local  disputes  should  be  referred  to 
"  the  see  of  the  chief  bishop  of  the  Irish  "  — that  is, 
the  see  of  Armagh.  And  if  cases  arose  which  could 
not  be  decided  by  that  see,  they  should  be  sent  to  the 
apostolic  see,  that  is,  to  the  chair  of  the  apostle  Peter." 
In  the  synod  of  Magh-Rene,  a.d.  630,  St.  Cummian, 
who  presided,  in  his  letter  on  the  paschal  computation, 


92 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


says :  "  In  accordance  with  the  canonical  decree  that 
if  questions  of  grave  moment  arise,  they  shall  be  re- 
ferred to  the  heads  of  cities,  we  sent  such  as  we  knew 
were  wise  and  humble  men  to  Rome."  In  700  a  collec- 
tion of  canons  was  also  made  for  the  Irish  church, 
wherein  the  same  subject  is  mentioned,  and  referred  to 
as  a  ''decree  of  St.  Patrick."  Patrick  defines,  should 
any  "  grave  controversies  arise  in  this  island,  they  shall 
be  referred  to  the  apostolic  see."  Copies  of  these 
canons  are  preserved  in  the  Imperial  Library  at  Paris, 
at  Darmstadt,  at  St.  Gall,  in  Switzerland,  and  in  the 
Cottonian  Codex  of  the  eighth  century. 

A  curious  canon  in  verse  is  also  preserved.  The 
archbishop  of  Armagh  and  his  clergy  had  refused  to 
attend  Hugh  Oirdindhe  in  one  of  his  military  expedi- 
tions, as  was  then  usual.  The  king  asked  the  opinion 
of  his  poet  and  chief  adviser,  who,  according  to  the 
custom  of  the  times,  recorded  his  decision  in  rhyme. 

This  decision  obtained  the  name  of  a  canon,  and 
henceforth  its  author  was  distinguished  as  Fothadh  na 
Canoine,  or  Fothadh  of  the  Canons. 

Besides  the  valuable  collections  of  synods  and  canons, 
there  are  a  number  of  liturgical  treatises,  principally 
referring  to  the  manner  of  celebrating  Mass,  and  to  the 
devotion  which  should  be  paid  to  the  Blessed  Sacra- 
ment. In  the  well-known  Stowe  missal,  which  Dr. 
Todd  observes  "  may  well  be  deemed  older  than  the 
sixth  century,"  the  Mass  is  given  in  full,  and  agrees 
precisely  with  the  present  Roman  *canon  down  to  the 
memento  for  the  dead.  The  manuscript  also  contains  a 
Mass  for  the  dead,  and  several  other  occasional  Masses. 
There  are  also  treatises  on  church  vestments,  peniten- 
tials,  rules  of  religious  orders,  and  a  number  of  Latin 
hymns  of  great  beauty,  all  referable  to  this  early  period. 

It  must  not  be  supposed,  however,  that  the  literary 
labors  of  the  Irish  monks,  at  home  and  in  the  con- 
tinental monasteries  founded  by  them,  were  entirely 
confined  to  theology.  The  collection  of  the  Royal 
Irish  Academy  contains  several  works  written  on  vel- 
lum, with  treatises  of  history,  science,  laws,  and  com- 
merce, which  have  been  pronounced  by  competent 
authorities  to  be  written  in  the  purest  style  that  the 
ancient  Gaedhilic  language  ever  attained.    There  are 


LITERARY  LABORS  OF  THE  IRISH  MONKS. 


03 


also  a  considerable  number  of  translations  from  Greek, 
Latin,  and  other  languages.  These  are  of  considerable 
importance,  as  they  enable  the  critical  student  of  the 
language  to  determine  the  meaning  of  many  obscure  or 
obsolete  words  or  phrases,  by  reference  to  the  originals  ; 
nor  are  they  of  less  value  as  indicating  the  high  state 
of  literary  culture  which  prevailed  in  Ireland  during  the 
early  Christian  and  the  Middle  Ages.  Poetry,  mythol- 
ogy, history,  and  the  classic  literature  of  Greece  and 
Rome,  may  be  found  amongst  these  translations  ;  so 
that,  as  O'Curry  well  remarks,  "anyone  well  read  in 
the  comparatively  few  existing  fragments  of  our  Gaed- 
hilic  literature,  and  whose  education  had  been  confined 
solely  to  this  source,  would  find  that  there  are  but 
very  few  indeed  of  the  great  events  in  the  history  of 
the  world  with  which  he  was  not  acquainted. 77  He 
then  mentions,  by  way  of  illustration  of  classical  sub- 
jects, Celtic  versions  of  the  "Argonautic  Expedition/7 
the  "Siege  of  Troy/7  the  "Life  of  Alexander  the 
Great;77  and  of  such  subjects  as  cannot  be  classed 
under  this  head,  the  "  Destruction  of  Jerusalem  ; ,;  the 
"Wars  of  Charlemagne/7  including  the  "  History  of 
Eoland  the  Brave  ; 77  the  "  History  of  the  Lombards,  and 
the  almost  contemporary  translation  of  the  "  Travels  of 
Marco  Polo/7 

There  is  also  a  large  collection  cf  manuscripts  in  the 
British  Museum,  and  a  few  volumes  in  the  Bodleian 
Library  at  Oxford,  besides  the  well-known,  though  inac- 
cessible, Stowe  collection. 

The  Louvain  collection,  formed  chiefly  by  fathers 
Hugh  Ward,  John  Colgan,  and  Michael  O'Clery,  be- 
tween the  years  1620  and  1640,  was  widely  scattered 
at  the  French  Revolution.  The  most  valuable  portion 
is  in  the  college  of  St.  Isidore  in  Rome.  The  Burgun- 
dian  Library  at  Brussels  also  possesses  many  of  these 
treasures.  A  valuable  resume  of  the  manuscripts  which 
p  are  preserved  there  was  given  by  Mr.  Bindon,  and 
printed  in  the  "  Proceedings  of  the  Royal  Irish  Acad- 
emy/7 in  the  year  1847.  There  are  also  many  Latin 
manuscripts  with  Irish  glosses,  which  have  been  largely 
used  by  Zeuss  in  his  "  Grammatica  Celtica.77  The 
date  of  one  of  these  —  a  codex  containing  some  of  Ven- 
erable Bede's  works  —  is  fixed  by  an  entry  of  the  death 


94 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


of  Aed,  king  of  Ireland,  in  the  year  817.  This  most 
important  work  belonged  to  the  Irish  monastery  of 
Reichenau,  and  is  now  preserved  at  Carlsruhe.  A 
codex  is  also  preserved  at  Cambray,  which  contains  a 
fragment  of  an  Irish  sermon,  and  the  canons  of  an  Irish 
council  held  a.  d.  684. 

The  extraordinary  skill  evinced  in  the  art  of  illumin- 
ating might  be  more  properly  treated  in  the  section  on 
art.  It  may,  however,  be  remarked  here,  as  an  evi- 
dence of  the  high  value  set  on  literature  by  the  Irish 
monks,  that  in  each  monastery  certain  small  rooms  or 
cells,  called  scriptoria,  were  set  apart  for  those  who 
required  to  study  or  write  alone,  and  who  therefore 
could  not  use  the  common  scriptorium  or  large  apart- 
ment occupied  by  those  monks  whose  occupations 
could  be  carried  on  together.  In  the  early  Christian 
and  Middle  Ages,  estates  were  often  bequeathed  to  the 
scriptoria  of  monasteries,  by  those  who  knew  and  prac- 
tically appreciated  the  merit  of  the  works  executed  in 
them. 

Even  at  this  early  period  we  find  Irish  nuns  also 
devoting  themselves  to  the  promotion  of  literature  and 
education.  St.  Ita  notably  is  mentioned  in  this  way, 
and  St.  Briget  appears  to  have  been  a  woman  of  consid- 
erable intellectual  attainments. 

Law  was  administered  in  Ireland  long  before  the 
Christian  era,  and  until  the  seventeenth  century,  ac- 
cording to  a  well-established  and  well-defined  code 
known  as  the  Brehon  Laws.  These  Brehon  laws  are 
the  decisions  of  certain  distinguished  Brehons  or  judges, 
whose  enactments  became  law,  and  were  transmitted  to 
posterity  orally,  in  a  quasi-metrical  form,  until  the  art 
of  writing  was  known.  These  laws  were  carefully  col- 
lected and  written  down  soon  after  the  arrival  of  St. 
Patrick  in  Ireland,  and  during  the  reign  of  king  Laeg- 
haire.  A  considerable  portion  of  this  compilation  has 
been  published  by  Government,  with  a  careful  trans- 
lation. The  portion  published  is  called  the  Seanchus 
Mor.  Several  copies  of  the  original  code  were  used  and 
compared.  One  of  these  copies  has  a  note  written  in  it 
on  Christmas  Night,  a.  d.  1350,  by  Hugh  MacEgan,  who 
says  the  book  belonged  to  his  father.  The  MacEgans 
of  Connaught  were  hereditary  Brehons;  and  no  doubt 


COMPILATION  OF  THE  BREHON  LAWS. 


this  copy  of  the  ancient  laws  had  been  in  their  posses- 
sion for  some  years,  if  not  for  some  centuries,  previous. 

The  best  Celtic  scholars  are  now  agreed  that  there  is 
no  improbability  in  the  statement  made  in  the  com- 
mencement of  the  Seanchus  Mor,  that  these  laws  were 
revised  and  written  down  under  the  special  direction  of 
St.  Patrick.  Nine  persons  are  said  to  have  assisted  on 
the  work,  or,  in  the  words  of  the  Seanchus  itself : 

/'Nine  persons  were  appointed  to  arrange  this  book, 
viz.,  Patrick,  and  Benen,  and  Cairnech,  three  bishops; 
Laeghaire,  and  Con,  and  Daire,  three  kings  ;  Rosa,  i.  e. 
MacTrechim  ;  and  Dubhthach,  t.  e.  a  doctor  of  the  Berla 
Feini ;  and  Fergus,  i.  e.  a  poet. 

"  Nofis,  therefore,  is  the  name  of  this  book  which 
they  arranged,  i.  e.  the  knowledge  of  nine  persons,  and 
we  have  proof  of  this  above. 

"This  is  the  Cain  Patraic,  and  no  human  Brehon  of 
the  Gaedlic  is  able  to  abrogate  anything  that  is  found 
in  the  Seanchus  Mor." 

Benen,  or  St.  Benignus,  the  disciple  of  St.  Patrick, 
who  succeeded  him  as  bishop  of  Armagh,  probably 
acted  as  his  secretary.  He  was  the  original  compiler 
of  the  "  Book  of  Rights."  St.  Cairnech  is  still  remem- 
bered as  the  patron  saint  of  Dulane  in  the  county  Meath. 
A  memoir  of  his  life  is  preserved  in  the  Cottonian  Li- 
brary, where  he  is  said  to  have  been  a  Cornishman, 
and  that  his  works  were  read  in  Ireland  through  the 
whole  country,  as  the  miracles  of  St.  Peter  were  read 
at  Rome.  Laeghaire  was  then  Ard-Righ  of  Ireland. 
Con  was  king  of  Cashel,  and  is  celebrated  as  a  man 
"  who  practised  no  evil  deeds."  There  were  two 
Daires  contemporary  with  St.  Patrick,  but  the  Daire 
who  assisted  in  the  compilation  of  the  laws  was  proba- 
bly the  king  of  Ulster.  These  laws  were  written  in 
the  Berla  Feini,  a  dialect  used  for  legal  purposes. 

The  Seanchus  Mor  does  not  give  any  information  as 
to  when  the  compilation  commenced,  but  the  defect  is 
supplied  by  the  Annals  of  the  Four  Masters,  who  give 
this  record  :  4 'The  age  of  Christ  438.  The  tenth  year 
of  Laeghaire.  The  Seanchus  and  Feinchus  of  Ireland 
were  purified  and  written."  There  is,  however,  men- 
tion of  the  place,  or,  rather,  places  where  the  work  was 
carried  on.    "  It  was  at  Teamhair  (Tara)  in  the  summer 


96 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


and  autumn,  on  account  of  its  clearness  and  pleasant- 
ness during  these  seasons  ;  and  at  Ruth-guthiard  (prob- 
ably the  fort  now  called  Lisanawer)  in  the  winter  and 
spring,  on  account  of  its  nearness  to  firewood."  The 
ancient  description  of  these  places  quite  coincides  with 
their  present  state. 

The  compilation  of  the  Brehon  laws  originated  in  a 
question  that  arose  as  to  how  the  murderer  of  Odran, 
Patrick's  charioteer,  should  be  punished.  The  saint 
was  allowed  to  select  whatever  Brehon  he  pleased  to 
give  judgment.  He  chose  Dubhthach ;  and  the  result 
of  his  decision  was  the  compilation  of  these  laws,  as  it 
was  at  once  seen  that  a  purely  pagan  code  would  not 
suit  Christian  teaching. 

The  sixth  century  was  a  marked  period  of  legal 
reform.  The  Emperor  Justinian,  by  closing  the  schools 
of  Athens,  gave  a  death-blow  to  Grecian  philosophy 
and  jurisprudence.  But  Grecian  influence  had  already 
acted  on  the  formation  of  Roman  law,  and,  probably, 
much  of  the  Athenian  code  was  embodied  therein.  The 
origin  of  Roman  law  is  involved  in  the  same  obscurity 
as  the  origin  of  the  Brehon  code.  In  both  cases,  the 
mist  of  ages  lies  like  a  light,  but  impenetrable  veil, 
over  all  that  could  give  certainty  to  conjecture.  Be- 
fore the  Era  of  the  Twelve  Tables,  mention  is  made  of 
laws  enacted  by  Romulus  respecting  what  we  should 
now  call  civil  liabilities.  Laws  concerning  religion  are 
ascribed  to  Numa,  and  laws  of  contract  to  Servius  Tul- 
lius,  who  is  supposed  to  have  collected  the  regulations 
made  by  his  predecessors.  The  Twelve  Tables  are  said 
to  have  been  formed  on  the  legal  enactments  of  Greece. 
The  cruel  severity  of  the  law  for  insolvent  debtors 
forms  a  marked  contrast  to  the  milder  and  more  equita- 
ble arrangements  of  the  Brehon  code.  By  the  Roman 
enactments,  the  person  of  the  debtor  was  at  the  mercy 
of  his  creditor,  who  might  sell  him  for  a  slave  beyond 
the  Tiber.  The  Celt  allowed  only  the  seizure  of  goods, 
and  even  this  was  under  regulations  most  favorable  to 
the  debtor.  The  legal  establishment  of  Christianity  by 
Constantine,  or,  we  should  rather  say,  the  existence 
of  Christianity,  necessitated  a  complete  revision  of  all 
ancient  laws  :  hence  we  find  the  compilation  of  the 
Theodosian  code  almost  synchronizing  with  the  revision 


THE  BREHON  LAWS. 


01 


of  the  Brehon  laws.  The  spread  of  Christianity,  and 
the  new  modes  of  thought  and  action  which  obtained 
thereby,  necessitated  the  reconstruction  of  ancient  juris- 
prudence in  lands  as  widely  distant  geographically,  and 
as  entirely  separated  politically,  as  Italy  and  Ireland. 

The  Salic  law  was  also  drawn  up  about  the  begin- 
ning of  the  fifth  century,  and  was  subsequently  revised 
after  the  baptism  of  Clovis,  that  its  enactments  might 
be  suitable  for  a  Christian  country.  It  is  possible  that 
St.  Patrick,  who  was  a  Roman  citizen,  and  whose 
father  was  a  magistrate,  .was  well  acquainted  with  the 
modifications  of  the  Pagan  laws  made  by  Theodosius 
at  Constantinople,  and  Valentinian  at  Rome. 

The  subject-matter  of  the  portions  of  the  Seanchus 
Mor  which  have  been  translated,  is  the  law  of  distress. 
Two  points  are  noticeable  in  this  :  First,  the  careful 
and  accurate  administration  of  justice  which  is  indicated 
by  the  details  of  these  legal  enactments ;  second,  the 
custom  therein  sanctioned  of  the  creditor  fasting  upon 
the  debtor,  a  custom  which  still  exists  in  Hindostan. 
Hence,  in  some  cases,  the  creditor  fasts  on  the  debtor 
until  he  is  compelled  to  pay  his  debt,  lest  his  creditor 
should  die  at  the  door ;  in  other  cases,  the  creditor  not 
only  fasts  himself,  but  also  compels  his  debtor  to  fast, 
by  stopping  his  supplies.  Elphinstone  describes  this  as 
used  even  against  princes,  and  especially  by  troops  to 
procure  payment  of  arrears. 

One  of  the  most  noticeable  peculiarities  of  the  Brehon 
law  is  the  compensation  for  murder,  called  eric.  This, 
however,  was  common  to  other  nations.  Its  origin  is 
ascribed  to  the  Germans,  but  the  institution  was  proba- 
bly far  more  ancient.  We  find  it  forbidden  in  the  old- 
est code  of  laws  in  existence  ;  hence  the  eric  must  have 
been  in  force  at  an  early  period  of  the  world's  civil 
history. 

The  law  of  succession,  called  tanaisteacht,  or  tanistry, 
is  one  of  the  most  peculiar  of  the  Brehon  laws.  The 
eldest  son  succeeded  the  father  to  the  exclusion  of  all 
collateral  claimants,  unless  disqualified  by  deformity, 
imbecility,  or  crime.  In  after  ages,  by  a  compact  be- 
tween parents,  or  mutual  agreement,  the  succession 
was  sometimes  made  alternate  in  two  or  more  families. 
The  eldest  son,  being  recognized  as  presumptive  heir, 
5 


08 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


was  denominated  tanaiste,  that  is  minor,  or  second ; 
while  the  other  sons,  or  persons  eligible  in  case  of  fail- 
ure, were  termed  righdhamhua,  which  literally  means 
king-material,  or  king-makings.  The  tanaiste  had  a 
separate  establishment  and  distinct  privileges.  The 
primitive  intention  was,  that  the  "best  man"  should 
reign  ;  but,  practically,  it  ended  in  might  being  taken 
for  right,  and  often  for  less  important  qualifications. 

The  possession  and  inheritance  of  landed  property 
was  regulated  by  the  law  called  gavelkind  (gavail- 
kinne),  an  ancient  Celtic  institution,  but  common  to 
Britons,  Anglo-Saxons  and  others.  By  this  law,  inher- 
ited or  other  property  was  divided  equally  between  the 
sons,  to  the  exclusion  of  the  daughters  (unless,  indeed, 
in  default  of  heirs  male,  when  females  were  permitted 
a  life  interest).  The  tanaiste,  however,  was  allotted  the 
dwelling-house  and  other  privileges. 

The  tenure  of  land  was  a  tribe  or  family  right ;  and, 
indeed,  the  whole  system  of  government  and  legislation 
was  far  more  patriarchal  than  Teutonic  —  another  indi- 
cation of  an  eastern  origin.  All  the  members  of  a  tribe 
or  family  had  an  equal  right  to  their  proportionate 
share  of  the  land  occupied  by  the  whole.  This  system 
created  a  mutual  independence  and  self-consciousness 
of  personal  right  and  importance,  strongly  at  variance 
with  the  subjugation  of  the  Germanic  and  Anglo-Nor- 
man vassal. 

In  the  doubt  which  exists  as  to  the  use  and  the  time 
at  which  the  Round  Towers  were  erected,  they  may  be 
classed  under  the  head  of  ecclesiastical  architecture. 
There  are  about  seventy  of  these  singular  structures 
still  remaining,  and  many  have  been  destroyed  by  time, 
and  by  the  vandalism  of  modern  improvers.  The  most 
ancient  Irish  churches  were  of  cyclopean  architecture, 
although  lime  cement  was  used  in  some  cases.  They 
were  of  small  size,  rarely  exceeding  eighty  feet  in 
length,  excepting  the  great  church  or  cathedral  of 
Armagh,  which  was  a  hundred  and  forty  feet.  Their 
form  is  very  nearly  that  of  the  Roman  basilica.  They 
were  lighted  by  small  windows,  opening  inwards,  but 
never  glazed,  though  parchment  or  horn  appears  to 
have  been  used  in  some  places  as  a  substitute  for  glass. 

There  was  only  one  entrance,  placed  in  the  west  end, 


•MILITARY  ARCHITECTURE. 


99 


and  in  all  cases  the  sides  of  the  windows  and  doorways 
incline  like  the  doorways  in  the  oldest  remains  of 
cyclopean  buildings.  The  roofs  were  generally  con- 
structed of  stone,  and  this  method  of  roofing  was  con- 
tinued until  the  introduction  of  the  Gothic  style. 

The  early  Irish  ecclesiastics  of  note  were  usually 
either  skilled  themselves  in  such  arts  as  enabled  them 
to  advance  the  style  of  architecture,  century  by  cen- 
tury, from  its  original  primitive  form  to  a  higher  ideal, 
or  they  were  assisted  by  artificers  who  could  execute 
such  works  as  their  taste  or  piety  might  suggest.  The 
stone  crosses  which  still  remain,  with  their  rich  and 
beautiful  carvings,  attest  the  superior  ability  of  those 
who  erected  them  ;  and  there  is  ample  evidence  that 
the  shrines  of  saints  were  richly  and  beautifully  adorned, 
and  even  painted,  a  custom  continued  from  the  times 
of  the  early  Christians,  who  thus  adorned  the  shrines  of 
the  martyrs  in  the  catacombs.  These  shrines  were  also 
adorned  with  costly  gems,  and  ornaments  of  gold  and 
silver ;  hence  the  impiety  and  barbarism  of  the  Danes, 
in  robbing  and  destroying  them,  are  frequently  recorded 
in  the  Annals. 

The  style  of  military  architecture  varied  but  little 
from  its  primitive  form  until  after  the  Norman  invasion. 
According  to  the  account  of  the  eminent  Irish  anti- 
quary, Sir  W.  Wylde,  the  Pagan  military  architecture 
of  Ireland  exhibits  an  amount  of  skill,  both  in  structure 
and  in  engineering,  which  is  only  equalled  by  the  earli- 
est monuments  in  Greece,  and  which  induces  the  infer- 
ence of  a  similarity  of  people.  These  forts  consist  of 
circular  enclosures  of  massive  clay  walls,  from  six  to 
sixteen  feet  thick,  entered  through  a  narrow  gateway, 
of  sloping  sides.  Some  few  have  surrounding  ram- 
parts, or  outworks  and  flights  of  stairs  in  the  inner  wall, 
leading  to  terraces  on  the  top.  The  most  remarkable 
of  these  remains  are  found  in  the  isles  of  Arran,  par- 
ticularly that  of  Dun-iEngus,  the  greatest  monument 
of  the  kind  extant ;  Dun-Ogliu,  Dun-Caher,  and  Dun- 
Conor;  also  the  Grianan  of  Aileach,  in  Donegal;  Cul- 
cashel,  in  Mayo  ;  and  Staigue  Fort,  in  Kerry,  in  which 
the  construction  of  the  staircases  inside  are  still  perfect. 
This  monument  of  the  past  is  supposed  to  have  been 
at  least  2,000  ye^rs  in  existence. 


100 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


The  only  copper  implements  of  great  antiquity  are  some 
celts.,  battle-axes,  sword-blades,  etc.  These  weapons 
probably  immediately  succeeded  those  which  were  used 
in  the  stone  age.  Copper  and  bronze  weapons  were 
also  used  about  the  same  period.  Some  of  these  weap- 
ons evince  great  artistic  skill.  Gold  was  used  in  some 
cases  for  shields  and  helmets ;  and  the  magnificent  gold 
diadems  preserved  in  the  collection  of  the  Royal  Irish 
Academy,  which  probably  belonged  to  the  provincial 
kings  and  queens  of  the  Irish  Pentarchy,  far  surpass 
any  ornaments  of  the  kind  of  a  similar  age  discovered 
in  North-western  Europe. 

Dress.  —  The  lunettes  —  in  Irish,  minne  —  were  the 
principal  gold  ornaments  of  the  period.  Their  exact 
use  has  not  been  determined  ;  it  is  probable  they  were 
worn  on  the  head.  Diadems,  of  thin  plates  of  gold, 
semi-oval  in  form,  and  most  magnificently  chased  and 
embossed,  were  also  in  use.  Gorgets,  or  neck-collars, 
beads,  necklaces,  ear-rings,  and  brooches  of  gold  were 
generally  worn.  Bracelets  and  armillae  adorned  the 
arms  of  every  lady  of  rank,  and  were  frequently  given 
by  the  fair  wearers  as  rewards  to  the  poets  and  histo- 
rians of  the  age.  The  accuracy  of  the  bardic  descrip- 
tions of  costume  are  continually  verified  by  discoveries 
of  articles  which  they  have  described  the  existence  of, 
which  would  otherwise  have  been  credited  to  Celtic 
imagination.  One  writer  described  a  torque  which  had 
"  two  apples  or  balls  of  gold  at  the  end."  A  torque 
has  lately  been  found  precisely  answering  to  this 
description.  A  Fleasc,  or  bracelet,  was  worn  as  an 
indication  of  rank  on  the  arms  of  chieftains.  One  of 
the  most  celebrated  ornaments  which  still  remain  is 
the  Tara  brooch,  which  certainly  belongs  to  the  earliest 
part  of  the  Christian  era,  if  not  to  Pagan  times.  It 
would  be  impossible  to  give  a  short  description  which 
would  convey  any  idea  of  the  artistic  beauty,  delicacy, 
and  skill  displayed  in  this  ornament. 

There  is  no  record  of  the  first  introduction  of  flax  and 
hemp.  The  variegated  and  glowing  colors,  combined 
with  the  gorgeous  decorations  of  dress  and  the  brilliancy 
of  arms,  rendered  the  Celtic  costume  of  the  eighth  and 
ninth  centuries  very  attractive.  Cloaks,  called  in  Irish 
•  cochall,  were  the  chief  article  of  dress.    It  was  evidently 


ARTS  AND  SOCIAL  LIFE. 


101 


the  analogue  of  the  sagum  of  the  Celtic  Gauls,  described 
by  Plutarch  as  parti-colored ;  the  thick  woollen  lsena  of 
the  Belgse ;  the  Roman  toga  ;  and  the  Greek  chlamys, 
A  cloak  called  brat  was  one  of  the  chief  tributes  paid 
by  the  different  states  of  the  Pentarchy ;  they  are 
described  in  the  "  Book  of  Rights  "  in  immense  varie- 
ties. The  matal  was  a  small  decorated  cloak.  The 
tunic,  ima?%  is  also  one  of  the  tributes.  The  leann,  or 
mantle,  was  a  white  woollen  garment  probably  a  loose 
Bhirt. 

Food.  —  The  great  antiquity  of  corn  in  Ireland  is  gen- 
erally admitted  by  archaeologists ;  and  flesh,  fish,  and 
grain  were  the  usual  condiments  from  an  early  period. 
Casks  of  butter  have  been  found  of  undoubted  age ; 
and  large  masses  of  cheese  have  also  been  preserved 
and  discovered  in  bogs.  The  cheese  differs  in  shape 
from  the  butter,  and  was  simply  placed  in  the  bog 
without  any  protection.  Mead  was  used  as  drink  at  a 
very  early  period,  and  was  chiefly  made  from  honey. 
Bees  were  attended  with  special  care,  and  some  of  the 
enactments  of  the  Brehon  laws  refer  especially  to  them. 

Money. —  Gold  rings  were  used  as  a  medium  of  bar- 
ter, and  were  given  as  rewards  to  poets  and  men  of 
learning ;  the  Irish  ladies,  even  as  early  as  the  first 
century,  are  said  to  have  worn  them  on  their  arms  in 
great  abundance  for  the  purpose  of  distribution.  The 
high  respect  paid  to  learning,  and  the  ample  rewards 
bestowed  upon  those  who  devoted  themselves  to  the 
preservation  of  the  national  Annals,  are  a  sufficient  rea- 
son for  the  care  with  which  they  were  recorded. 

The  Danes  probably  learned  the  art  of  coining  money 
from  the  Irish  ;  it  is  at  least  certain,  that  the  Irish  had 
bracteate  coins  at  an  early  period,  which  were  used  as 
a  circulating  medium,  as  well  as  rings  or  ingots.  Both 
rings  and  ingots  have  been  found,  of  certain  fixed 
weights.  From  a  very  remote  age  the  Irish  had  a  reg- 
ular scale  of  barter,  by  which  the  value  of  animals  and 
property  was  regulated. 

The  art  of  illuminating  manuscripts  attained  an  extra- 
ordinary perfection  soon  after  the  introduction  of  Chris- 
tianity. The  monks,  not  content  with  occupying  them- 
selves in  compiling  new  works  and  in  copying  such  as 
already  existed,  aimed  also  at  the  advancement  of  their 


102 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


productions.  However  admirable  the  skill  which  they 
displayed,  it  must  be  remembered  that  they  were  not 
altogether  without  models.  The  Celtic  style  of  art, 
peculiar  to  itself,  and  inimitable  of  its  kind,  had  already 
been  inaugurated,  even  in  the  pagan  ages  of  Celtic 
history,  by  the  workers  in  gold  and  other  metals,  whose 
artistic  designs  are  only  equalled  by  their  skill  in  work- 
manship. Transcribing  was,  in  fact,  a  trade,  for  the 
monks  obtained  support  for  their  monasteries  by  the 
payment  received  for  copying  works  for  those  who 
wished  to  possess  them,  or  to  present  them  to  other 
religious  houses.  There  were  three  distinct  branches 
of  copyists  —  the  illuminators,  the  notarii  or  public 
scribes,  and  the  librarii  antiquarii.  Mr.  Westwood  has 
observed  that,  "from  the  fifth  to  the  end  of  the  eighth 
century,  a  style  of  art  was  established  in  Ireland  abso- 
lutely distinct  from  that  of  all  other  parts  of  the  civil- 
ized world,  which  obtained  a  perfection  almost  marvel- 
lous." He  thus  describes  this  style  :  "  It  consists,  (1) 
of  one  or  more  narrow  ribbons,  diagonally  but  symmet- 
rically interlaced,  forming  an  endless  variety  of  patterns  ; 

(2)  one,  two,  or  three  slender  spiral  lines,  coiling  one 
within  another,  till  they  meet  within  the  centre  of  the 
circle,  their  opposite  ends  going  off  to  other  circles  ; 

(3)  a  vast  variety  of  lacertine  animals  and  birds,  coiled 
one  within  another,  their  tails,  tongues,  and  top  knots 
prolonged  and  irregularly  interlaced  ;  (4)  diagonal  lines 
forming  Chinese-like  patterns.  The  Irish  missionaries 
brought  their  style  of  art  with  them  from  Iona  to  Lin- 
disfarne  in  the  seventh  century,  with  their  bold  and 
characteristic  caligraphy  ;  these  were  adopted  by  the 
Anglo-Saxons,  and  hence  the  name  of  Anglo-Saxon  was 
given  to  this  style  of  art,  which  is,  in  reality,  Celtic. 
In  delicacy  of  handling  and  minute  but  faultless  execu- 
tion, the  whole  range  of  palaeography  offers  nothing 
comparable  to  the  early  Celtic  manuscripts,  and  those 
produced  in  the  same  style  in  England." 

It  has  been  already  observed,  that  the  monks  by 
no  means  confined  themselves  to  religious  treatises  or 
copies  of  Scripture ;  hence  such  science  as  the  age 
could  boast  was  fairly  and  popularly  disseminated  in 
Ireland  with  considerable  knowledge  of  classical  sub- 
jects.   Versification,  from  the  earliest  ages,  had  been 


MUSIC  AND  POETRY. 


103 


an  important  means  of  imparting  and  preserving  knowl- 
edge, and'  this  art  was  at  once  employed  in  the  Divine 
service  by  the  early  converts.  The  hymns  of  the  Cath- 
olic Church,  which  are  unequalled  for  sublimity  of  sen- 
timent and  beauty  of  composition,  are  modelled  on  the 
hymns  composed  by  Irish  monks. 

The  phonetic  framework  of  the  poetry  of  each  nation 
is  founded  on  different  principles  of  harmony,  or  appre- 
ciation of  sound.  Greek  and  Latin  poetry  is  composed 
by  the  recurrence  of  similar  quantities.  Hebrew  poetry 
requires  parallelism.  The  Swedes  and  Norse  require 
alliteration.  The  English,  French,  and  Italians  require 
metre.  The  ancient  Irish  poetry  required  assonance, 
measure,  alliteration,  and,  if  the  assonance  was  perfect, 
rhyme  necessarily  followed.  Rhyme  is  therefore  a  qual- 
ity of  Irish  verse ;  and  Zeuss  has  shown  that  the  word 
rhyme  is  itself  of  Irish  origin ;  "  Simplex  Hibernicum 
substantivum  rim,  inde  derivatur  rimire,  compilator." 
—  Gram.  Geltica,  p.  912.  Zeuss  also  affirms  that  the 
Gaulish-Celtic  form  of  composing  odes  was  transferred 
to  the  composition  of  Christian  hymns.  Hence  we  find 
the  Irish  author  Sedulius  writing  the  hymn  — 

A  soh's  ovtus  cardine 
Ad  usque  terrce  limitem, 
Christum  canamus  principewj, 
Natwm  Maria  Virgitie. 

And  St.  Ambrose  the  ferial  hymn  for  Monday  — 

Somno  refectis  artubws,  aperto  cubili  surgimws; 
Nobis,  pater,  canentibws.  adesse  te  deposciwms. 

With  the  "  Jam  lucis  orto  sidere,"  and  many  other 
hymns,  which,  although  composed  in  iambic  tetrameter, 
have  the  assonant  and  other  qualities  considered  essen- 
tial by  the  Celtic  bards.  Many  other  examples  might 
be  given,  but  even  a  mere  list  of  the  hvmns  composed 
by  Irish  monks  would  occupy  a  considerable  space. 

Music.  —  The  subject  of  Celtic  music  would  require  a 
much  greater  development  than  can  be  given  to  it  at 
present.  The  form  of  the  harp  has  been  incorrectly 
represented  on  our  coins.  It  was  first  assumed  in  the 
national  arms  about  the  year  1540.  When  figured  on 
the  coins  of  Henry  VIII.,  the  artist  seems  to  have 
taken  the  Italian  harp  of  twenty-four  strings  for  his 
model ;  but  in  the  national  arms  sketched  on  the  map 
of  Ireland  in  the  State  Papers,  executed  in  the  year 


104 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


1567,  the  form  is  more  correct.  That  the  Irish  pos- 
sessed this  musical  instrument  in  pre-Christian  times, 
cannot  be  doubted.  The  ornamental  cover  of  an  Irish 
manuscript,  which  Mr.  Ferguson  considers  to  date 
prior  to  a.  d.  1064,  contains  five  examples  of  the  harp 
of  that  period.  This,  and  the  sculptured  harp  at  Nieg, 
in  Ross- shire,  are  believed  to  be  the  earliest  delinea- 
tions of  the  perfect  harp.  Dr.  Bunting  gives  a  sketch 
of  a  harp  and  harper,  taken  from  one  of  the  compart- 
ments of  a  sculptured  cross  atUllard,  county  Kilkenny. 
This  is  a  remarkable  example.  The  cross  is  supposed  to 
be  older  than  that  of  Monasterboice,  which  was  erected 
a.  d.  830,  and  this  is  believed  to  be  the  first  specimen 
of  a  harp  without  a  fore  pillar  that  has  been  discovered 
out  of  Egypt.  If  the  Irish  harp  be  really  a  variety  of 
the  cithara,  derived  through  an  Egyptian  channel,  it 
would  form  another  important  link  in  the  chain  of  evi- 
dence, which  leads  us  back  to  colonization  from  Egypt 
through  Scythia.  Captain  Wilford  observes,  that  there 
may  be  a  clue  to  the  Celtic  word  bard  in  the  Hindoo 
bdrddtri;  but  the  Irish  appellation  appears  to  be  of 
comparatively  modern  use.  It  is,  however,  a  notice- 
able fact,  that  the  farther  we  extend  our  inquiries,  the 
more  forcibly  we  are  directed  to  the  East  as  the  cradle 
of  our  music.  Several  recent  travellers  have  mentioned 
the  remarkable  similarity  between  Celtic  airs  and  those 
which  they  heard  in  different  parts  of  Asia.  Sir  W. 
Ouseley  observed,  at  the  close  of  the  last  century,  that 
many  Hindoo  melodies  possessed  the  plaintive  simplic- 
ity of  the  Scotch  and  Irish. 

A  German  scholar  has  written  a  work,  to  prove  that 
the  pentatonic  scale  was  brought  over  by  the  Celts 
from  Asia,  and  that  it  was  preserved  longer  in  Scotland 
than  elsewhere,*on  account  of  the  isolated  position  of 
that  country.  The  Phoenicians  are  supposed  to  have 
invented  the  kinnor,  trigonon,  and  several  other  of  the 
most  remarkable  instruments  of  antiquity.  Their  skill 
as  harpists,  and  their  love  of  music,  are  indicated  by 
the  prophetic  denunciation,  where  the  ceasing  of  songs 
and  the  sound  of  the  harp  are  threatened  as  a  calamity 
they  were  likely  specially  to  feel. 

Mr.  0' Curry  gives  the  names  of  all  the  ancient  Irish 
musical  instruments  as  follows  :  —  Cruit,  a  harp  ;  Tim- 


MUSIC  AND  DRESS. 


105 


pan,  a  drum,  or  tambourine ;  Corn,  a  trumpet ;  Stoc,  a 
clarion  ;  Pipai,  the  pipes  ;  Fidil,  the  riddle.  He  adds, 
"all  those  are  mentioned  in  an  ancient  poem  in  the 
'Book  of  Leinster/  a  manuscript  of  about  the  year 
1150,  now  in  the  Library  of  Trinity  College.  The  first 
four  are  found  in  various  old  tales  and  descriptions  of 
battles/7 

The  principal  Irish  instruments  were  the  harp,  the 
trumpet  and  the  bagpipe.  The  harp  in  the  Museum  of 
Trinity  College,  Dublin,  usually  known  as  Brian  Bo- 
roimhe's  harp,  is  supposed,  by  Dr.  Petrie,  to  be  the 
oldest  instrument  of  the  kind  now  remaining  in  Europe. 
It  had  but  one  row  of  strings,  thirty  in  number ;  the 
upright  pillar  is  of  oak,  and  the  sound-board  of  red  sal- 
low. The  minute  and  beautiful  carving  on  all  parts  of 
the  instrument  attests  a  high  state  of  artistic  skill,  at 
whatever  period  it  was  executed.  As  the  harp  is  only 
thirty-two  inches  high,  it  is  supposed  that  it  was  used 
by  ecclesiastics  in  the  church  services.  Cambrensis 
mentions  this  custom  ;  and  there  is  evidence  of  it  hav- 
ing existed  from  the  first  introduction  of  Christianity. 
Harps  of  this  description  are  figured  on  the  knees  of 
ecclesiastics  on  several  of  our  ancient  stone  crosses. 

The  amusements  of  the  pre-Christian  Celt  were, 
undeniably,  intellectual.  Chess  has  already  been  men- 
tioned more  than  once  in  this  work  as  a  constant  occu- 
pation of  princes  and  chieftains.  Indeed,  they  appear 
to  have  sat  down  to  a  game  with  all  the  zest  of  a  mod- 
ern amateur.  A  few  specimens  of  chessmen  have  been 
discovered  :  a  king,  elaborately  carved,  is  figured  in 
the  Introduction  to  the  "  Book  of  Rights. "  It  belonged 
to  Dr.  Petrie,  and  was  found,  with  some  others,  in  a 
bog  in  the  county  Meath.  The  chessmen  of  ancient 
times  appear  to  have  been  rather  formidable  as  weapons. 
In  the  "  Tain  bo  Chuailgne,"  Cuchullain  is  represented 
as  having  killed  a  messenger,  who  told  him  a  lie,  with 
a  chessman  "  which  pierced  him  to  the  centre  of  his 
brain. "  English  writers  speak  of  the  use  of  chess 
immediately  after  the  Conquest,  and  say  that  the  Sax- 
ons learned  the  game  from  the  Danes.  The  Irish  were 
certainly  acquainted  with  it  at  a  much  earlier  period ; 
if  we  are  to  credit  the  Annals,  it  was  well  known  long 
before  the  introduction  of  Christianity. 


THIRD,  OR  DANISH  PERIOD 


FROM  A.D.  795  TO  A.D  116d. 


PKINCIPAL  EVENTS. 

FIRST  RAID  OF  THE  DANES  —  PLUNDER  OF  THE  MONASTERIES, 
AND  DESTRUCTION  OF  THE  CHURCHES  —  ILLUMINATED  MAN- 
USCRIPTS AND  WORKS  OF  ART  —  TURGESIUS,  THE  DANISH 
PRINCE,  ESTABLISHES  HIS  HEAD  QUARTERS  IN  ARMAGH  — 
THE  DANES  DIVIDED  INTO  TWO  PARTIES,  CALLED  BLACK 
AND  WHITE  GENTILES — REIGN  OF  CORMAC — WAR  WITH 
KING  OF  CASHEL  —  ATTEMPT  OF  MUIRCHEARTACH  TO  SUB- 
JUGATE THE  DANES  —  THE  DANES  OBTAIN  POSSESSION  OF 
THE  SEA -COAST  TOWNS  —  THE  BATTLE  OF  DUNDALK  —  MAL- 
ACHY  AND  BRIAN  BORU  —  REMOTE  CAUSES  OF  THE  BATTLE 
OF  CLONTARF  —  THE  BLOCKADE  OF  DUBLIN — THE  BATTLE 
OF  CLONTARF  —  DEFEAT  OF  THE  DANES,  AND  DECLINE  OF 
THE  DANISH  POWER  IN  IRELAND. 

I 

(107) 


FIRST  RAID  OF  THE  DANES. 


109 


CHAPTER  VIII 

A.D.795TO  A.D.954, 

Contemporary  Events  :— Charlemagne,  Emperor  of  the  West— Leo 
III.  Pope  — Alfred  the  Great  —  Succeeded  "by  Edward  the  Elder  — 
England  ravaged  by  the  Danes  —  The  Universities  of  Oxford  and 
Cambridge  founded  —  Foundation  of  the  Capet  dynasty  in  France 
—  The  Picts  subdued  and  repelled  by  Kenneth  II— The  Saxon 
Code  of  Laws  framed. 

The  first  raid  of  the  Danish  pirates  is  recorded  thus  : 
"  The  age  of  Christ  790  (recte  795).  The  twenty-fifth 
year  of  Donnehadh.  The  burning  of  Reachrainn  by 
plunderers ;  and  its  shrines  were  broken  and  plun- 
dered. "  They  had  already  attacked  the  English  coasts, 
"  whilst  the  pious  King  Bertric  was  reigning  over  its 
western  division."  Their  arrival  was  sudden,  and  so 
unexpected  that  the  king's  officer  took  them  for  mer- 
chants, paying  with  his  life  for  the  mistake.  A  Welsh 
chronicle,  known  by  the  name  of  "  Brut  y  Tywyso- 
gion/'  or  the  Chronicle  of  the  Chieftains,  has  a  corre- 
sponding record  under  the  year  790  :  "  Ten  years  with 
fourscore  and  seven  hundred  was  the  age  of  Christ 
when  the  pagans  went  to  Ireland."  Three  manuscripts 
add,  "  and  destroyed  Rechren."  Another  chronicle 
mentions,  that  the  black  pagans,  who  were  the  first  of 
their  nation  to  land  in  Ireland,  had  previously  been 
defeated  in  Glamorganshire,  and  after  their  defeat  they 
had  invaded  Ireland,  and  devastated  Rechru. 

The  Irish  gave  the  generic  name  of  Gaill  to  all  stran- 
gers who  spoke  a  foreign  language,  probably  because 
they  confounded  them  with  the  Galli,  or  Gauls,  the  for- 
eigners with  whom  they  were  most  intimate.  Hence 
the  Danes  obtained  the  name  of  Gaill,  and  the  wars 
with  the  Danes  are  termed  Gogadh  Gaedhil  re  Gallaidh 
—  the  wars  of  the  Irish  with  the  foreigners.  After 
the  twelfth  century  the  term  Gall  was  applied  to  the 
English  ;  and  the  Highlanders  of  Scotland  now  employ 


110 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


it  to  designate  the  Lowlanders.  The  Danes,  according 
to  the  Irish  chroniclers,  were  divided  into  two  classes : 
the  "  azure  Gentiles,"  or  Lochlanns,  and  the  tl  Danaes," 
or  Danes  proper.  The  exact  meaning  of  these  terms 
has  not  been  ascertained,  but  they  indicate  two  classes 
of  pirates :  the  white  or  fair-haired  Norwegians  and 
Swedes  ;  and  the  dark  or  "  black  99  pagans,  most  dreaded 
of  all.  who  were  Danes.  The  two  nations  were  hostile 
to  each  other,  though,  or  perhaps  because,  equally  bent 
on  plunder.  At  a  later  period  the  word  Dane  was  used 
generally  to  signify  a  barbarian  or  robber,  without  dis- 
tinction of  race.  The  Danes  are  also  called  Duv  Galls, 
or  Black  Gentiles,  and  Finn  Galls  or  White  Gentiles. 

As  plunder  was  the  principal  object  of  these  Vikings, 
they  first  attacked  the  monastic  establishments  on  the 
Irish  coasts,  which  had  been  richly  endowed  by  the 
piety  and  liberality  of  the  Irish  Milesian  kings  and 
princes.  In  T98  they  invaded  the  Isle  of  Man,  and  on 
their  return  took  "  spoils  of  the  sea  between  Erinn  and 
Alba."  Finding  but  little  resistance,  they  were  em- 
boldened to  attack  the  mainland,  and  in  807,  the  tenth 
year  of  Hugh  Oirnidhe,  they  made  a  raid  on  the  south- 
west coast  of  Ireland,  and,  after  burning  the  island  of 
Finshunneay,  proceeded  to  Eoscommon.  During  the 
years  812  and  813  they  made  raids  in  Connaught  and 
Munster,  but  not  without  encountering  stout  resistance 
from  the  native  forces.  After  this  predatory  and  inter- 
necine warfare  had  continued  for  about  thirty  years, 
Turgesius,  a  Norwegian  prince,  established  himself  as 
sovereign  of  the  Vikings,  and  made  Armagh  his  head- 
quarters, a.  d.  830.  If  the  Irish  chieftains  had  united 
their  forces,  and  acted  in  concert,  the  result  would  have 
been  the  expulsion  of  the  intruders ;  but,  unhappily, 
this  unity  of  purpose  in  matters  political  has  never 
existed.  The  Danes  made  and  broke  alliances  with  the 
provincial  kings  at  their  own  convenience,  while  these 
princes  gladly  availed  themselves  of  even  temporary 
assistance  from  their  cruel  foes,  while  engaged  in  do- 
mestic wars,  which  should  never  have  been  undertaken. 
Still  the  Northmen  were  more  than  once  driven  from 
the  country  by  the  bravery  of  the  native  commanders, 
and  they  often  paid  dearly  for  the  cruel  wrongs  they 
inflicted  on  their  hapless  victims.    Sometimes  the  Dan- 


THE  PIRACIES  OF  THE  DANES. 


Ill 


ish  chiefs  mustered  all  their  forces,  and  left  the  island 
for  a  brief  period,  to  ravage  the  shores  of  England  or 
Scotland  ;  but  they  soon  returned  to  inflict  new  barbar- 
ities on  the  unfortunate  Irish. 

Burning  churches  or  destroying  monasteries  was  a 
favorite  pastime  of  these  pirates,  wherever  they  could 
obtain  a  landing  on  Christian  shores ;  and  the  number 
of  religious  houses  in  Ireland  afforded  them  abundant 
means  of  gratifying  their  barbarous  inclinations.  But 
when  they  became  so  far  masters  as  to  have  obtained 
some  permament  settlement,  this  mode  of  proceeding 
was  considered  either  more  troublesome  or  less  profita- 
ble than  that  of  appropriating  to  themselves  the  abbeys 
and  churches.  Turgesius,  it  is  said,  placed  an  abbot  of 
his  own  in  every  monastery ;  and  as  he  had  already 
conferred  ecclesiastical  offices  on  himself  and  on  his 
lady,  we  may  presume  he  was  not  very  particular  in  his 
selections.  Each  village,  too,  was  placed  under  the 
rule  of  a  Danish  captain  ;  and  each  family  was  obliged 
to  maintain  a  soldier  of  that  nation,  who  made  himself 
master  of  the  house,  using  and  wasting  the  food  for 
lack  of  which  the  starving  children  of  the  lawful  owner 
were  often  dying  of  hunger. 

All  education  was  strictly  forbidden  ;  books  and  man- 
uscripts were  burned  and  drowned ;  and  the  poets,  his- 
torians, and  musicians  imprisoned  and  driven  to  the 
woods  and  mountains.  Martial  sports  were  interdicted, 
from  the  lowest  to  the  highest  rank.  Even  nobles  and 
princes  were  forbidden  to  wear  their  usual  habiliments, 
the  cast-off  clothes  of  the  Danes  being  considered  suffi- 
ciently good  for  slaves. 

The  clergy,  who  had  been  driven  from  their  monas- 
teries, concealed  themselves  as  best  they  could,  contin- 
uing still  their  prayers  and  fasts,  and  the  fervent  recital 
of  the  Divine  Office.  The  Irish,  true  to  their  faith  in 
every  trial,  were  not  slow  to  attribute  their  deliverance 
to  the  prayers  of  these  holy  men. 

In  831  Nial  Caille  led  an  army  against  them,  and 
defeated  them  at  Derry ;  but,  in  the  meanwhile,  Felim, 
king  of  Cashel,  with  contemptible  selfishness,  marched 
into  Leinster  to  claim  tribute,  and  plundered  everyone, 
except  the  Danes,  who  should  have  been  alone  consid- 
ered as  enemies  at  such  a  time.    Even  the  churches 


112 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTOk*\ 


were  not  spared  by  him,  for  he  laid  waste  the  termon- 
lands  of  Clonmacnois,  "  up  to  the  church  door."  After 
his  death  a  brave  and  good  king  came  to  the  rescue 
of  his  unfortunate  country.  While  still  king  of  Meath, 
Meloughlin  had  freed  the  nation  from  Turgesius,  one  of 
its  worst  tyrants,  by  drowning  him  in  Lough  Owel. 

The  name  Turgesius,  or  Turgeis,  is  the  Latin  form  of 
the  Scandinavian  name  Thorgils,  or  Thorkils,  which 
occurs  frequently  in  the  northern  Sagas.  Snorro 
Sturleston  probably  intends  the  Turgesius  of  Irish  his- 
tory when  he  mentions  that  Thorgils,  the  son  of  Harold 
Harfagr,  was  sent  on  an  expedition  to  Scotland,  Ireland, 
and  Britland  (Britain)  by  his  father.  His  brother  Frode 
was  poisoned  in  Dublin ;  and  Thorgils,  after  a  long 
reign,  "  fell  into  a  snare  of  the  Irish  and  was  killed." 
This  looks  like  an  identity  of  person,  but  the  date  given 
by  Snorro  shows  that  he  was  mistaken  in  his  chronology. 
Turgesius  has  also  been  identified  with  Ragnar  Lodbrok, 
king  of  Denmark  and  Norway;*  but  there  are  more 
serious  difficulties  in  the  way  of  this  identification. 

Turgesius  was  drowned  a.  d.  845.  His  death  was  a 
signal  for  a  general  revolt  against  the  oppressors.  In 
846  they  were  defeated  at  Skeen,  and  on  another  occa- 
sion at  Kildare.  New  fleets,  however,  were  continually 
arriving,  and  supplying  the  place  of  the  slain,  or  afford- 
ing reinforcements  to  the  already  powerful  strangers. 
A  fleet  settled  at  Lough  Neagh,  and  plundered  all 
round  the  country  as  far  as  Armagh.  Another  party 
selected  the  Liffey  for  their  anchorage,  and  another 
detachment  landed  at  the  south  of  Athcliadh,  as  Dublin 
was  then  called,  and  plundered  it.  There  is  considera- 
ble confusion  in  the  Annals  of  this  period,  occasioned 
possibly  by  different  persons  giving  different  accounts 
of  these  raids,  which,  at  a  later  period,  were  supposed 
to  be  different  accounts  of  different  expeditions.  But, 
on  the  whole,  the  course  pursued  by  the  invaders  can 
be  ascertained  with  tolerable  exactitude. 

The  first  northern  invaders  of  Ireland  are  distin- 
guished by  the  annalists  as  the  Finngall,  White  or 
Azure  Gentiles.  They  were  Norwegians,  and  their 
power  lasted  until  the  death  of  Turgesius.  In  852  the 
more  formidable  Black  Gentiles  made  their  appearance, 
and  contested  the  country  with  the  former  invaders. 


INVASION  OF  THE  BLACK  GENTILES.  113 

Their  first  attack  was  made  on  the  fortress  which  the 
White  Gentiles  had  erected  at  Dublin.  This  they  plun- 
dered, routing  the  White  Gentiles  with  great  slaughter. 
The  Norwegians  then  sent  out  a  fleet  of  eightscore 
ships,  and  gave  battle  to  the  Danes  at  the  present  Car- 
lingford.  The  engagement  lasted  three  days  and  three 
nights,  and  the  Danes  were  again  victorious.  One  of 
the  Norwegian  leaders,  Stam,  escaped  by  flight ;  the 
other,  Iercne,  was  captured  and  beheaded. 

A  curious  account  of  these  contests  is  given  by  Don- 
ald MacFirbis,  in  his  "Fragments  of  Annals."  It  is 
very  characteristic  of  the  times.  According  to  this 
account,  the  "  Black  Galls  fought  with  the  White  Galls 
for  three  days  and  nights,  and  were  finally  victorious. 
They  take  the  ships  they  have  captured  to  Dublin,  and 
deprive  the  Lochlanns  (White  Galls)  of  all  the  spoil 
they  had  so  cruelly  and  unjustly  acquired  from  the 
f  shrines  and  sanctuaries  of  the  saints  of  Erinn  ; ;  which 
the  annalist  naturally  considers  a  judgment  on  them 
for  their  sins.  They  make  another  struggle,  and  gain 
the  victory.  But  the  Danish  general,  Horm,  advises 
his  men  to  put  themselves  under  the  protection  of  St. 
Patrick,  and  to  promise  the  saint  '  honorable  alms  for 
gaining  victory  and  triumph '  over  enemies  who  had 
plundered  his  churches.  They  comply  with  this  advice  ; 
and  though  greatly  inferior  in  numbers,  they  gain  the 
victory,  *  on  account  of  the  tutelage  of  St.  Patrick.'  " 
It  is,  however,  extremely  doubtful  whether  St.  Patrick's 
people  were  any  better  for  the  victory,  whether  gained 
through  his  "  tutelage  "  or  not.  Limerick  was  already 
in  possession  of  the  first  comers :  and  was  probably 
founded  by  them  ;  indeed,  the  principal  Irish  seaports 
owe  their  origin  to  the  Danes,  who  naturally  selected 
the  most  convenient  landing-places,  and  then  fortified 
themselves  as  best  they  could  on  the  nearest  site. 

Soon  after  the  famous  conflict  between  the  Black 
and  White  Gentiles,  both  parties  combined,  under  the 
leadership  of  AmiafF  or  Olaf.  Several  dates  are  given 
for  this  event ;  the  most  probable  is  a.  d.  853.  This  prince 
was  the  AmiafF  or  Olaf  Huita  (the  White)  of  Scandina-  * 
vian  history,  and  is  said  in  the  "  Landnamabok "  to 
have  "seized  Dublin  in  Ireland  and  the  Dublin  shire" 
(or  Dyflinnarskiri),  where  he  was  made  king.    He  is 


114 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


described  as  a  pirate,  and  the  records  of  his  exploits 
fully  bear  out  the  character,  though  probably  it  was  not 
intended  as  any  reproach.  lie  signalized  his  advent 
by  drowning  Coobar,  "  heir  apparent  of  Tara ;  "  by  slay- 
ing all  the  chieftains  of  the  Deisi ;  by  killing  the  son  of 
Clennfaedadh,  king  of  Muskerry  ;  by  smothering  Mach- 
daighren  in  a  cave ;  and  by  the  destruction  of  Caitill 
Find  (Ketill  the  White)  and  his  whole  garrison.  The 
death  of  Maelgualai,  son  of  Dungaile,  king  of  Munster, 
whose  head  was  broken  by  a  stone,  is  next  recorded, 
but  there  is  no  special  mention  as  to  whether  Amlaff 
was  the  instigator  or  perpetrator  of  this  barbarism. 
This  occurred  in  857,  according  to  the  chronology  of 
the  Four  Masters.  The  next  clause  asserts  that  they 
were  all  "  killed  by  the  men  of  Munster/'  but  the  reason- 
ing is  not  very  clear,  and  perhaps,  as  general  slaugh- 
tering was  the  order  of  the  day,  not  very  important. 
Ketill  the  White  was  probably  a  Norseman ;  and  his 
followers  are  called  the  Gaill-Gaedhil,  a  name  applied 
only  to  apostate  Irish  who  joined  the  Danish  ranks. 

Oisill  is  the  next  chief  of  importance  ;  and  he  "suc- 
ceeded in  plundering  the  greatest  part  of  Ireland."  It 
is  not  recorded  how  long  he  was  occupied  in  perform- 
ing this  exploit,  but  he  was  eventually  slain,  and  his 
army  cut  off.  The  deaths  of  several  Danish  chieftains 
occurred  about  this  period,  and  are  referred  to  the 
vengeance  of  certain  saints  whose  shrines  they  had  des- 
ecrated. In  a.  d.  864  according  to  the  Four  Masters, 
867  according  to  O'Flaherty,  the  Danes  were  defeated 
at  Lough  Foyle,  by  Hugh  Finnliath,  king  of  Ireland. 
Soon  after,  Leinster  and  Munster  were  plundered  by  a 
Scandinavian  chief,  named  Baraid,  who  advanced  as  far 
as  Kerry  :  "  And  they  left  not  a  cave  underground  that 
they  did  not  explore ;  and  they  left  nothing,  from  Lim- 
erick to  Cork,  that  they  did  not  ravish." 

The  "caves"  or  cairns  which  have  been  recently 
examined  bear  ample  evidence  of  this  plundering ;  the 
loss  to  the  archaeologists  can  only  be  estimated  by  a 
full  knowledge  of  what  has  been  spared.  Unfortunately 
these  barbarians  had  a  passion  for  wanton  destruction 
as  well  as  for  illegal  possession,  and  not  only  carried 
off  gold  torques,  chalices,  and  costly  shrines,  but  also 
mutilated,  burned,  and  even  drowned  the  memorable 


THE  DANES  PLUNDER  KERRY  AND  CORK.  115 

Annals,  which  must  have  existed  in  immense  numbers, 
if  we  may  judge  by  what  still  remains.  Even  richly 
illuminated  manuscripts  were  specially  the  objects  of 
their  wanton  barbarity,  and  the  monks  were  fain  to  be 
thankful  if  they  escaped  with  their  lives,  even  at  the 
price  of  their  most  precious  treasures. 

The  native  princes  were  chiefly,  if  not  entirely  to 
blame  for  all  this  destruction.  Had  they  combined 
against  the  common  enemy,  there  can  be  but  little 
doubt  of  the  result.  During  the  reign  of  Amlaff,  a 
great  meeting  of  Irish  ecclesiastics  was  convened  at 
Rathugh,  for  the  purpose  of  reconciling  the  Irish  chief- 
tains. They  succeeded  to  some  extent,  for  the  northern 
Hy-Nials  alone  remained  belligerent.  The  other  kings 
and  chieftains  pronounced  against  them  ;  and  Hugh 
Finnlaith  formed  an  alliance  with  Amlaff,  and  with  his 
aid  overran  the  kingdom  of  Meath. 

Meloughlin  died,  after  a  reign  of  sixteen  years,  a.  d. 
860.  The  annalists  mention  an  embassy  from  him  to 
Charles  the  Bald,  to  inform  that  monarch  of  victories 
gained  over  the  northern  pirates,  and  to  obtain  his  per- 
mission for  the  Irish  kings  to  pass  through  France  on  a 
pilgrimage  to  Rome.  Hugh  Finnliath  succeeded  Me- 
loughlin, broke  his  treaty  with  Amlaff,  which  had  been 
only  one  of  convenience,  and  turned  his  arms  vigorously 
against  the  foreigners.  This  prince  was  married  to  a 
daughter  of  Kenneth  M' Alpine,  the  first  sole  monarch 
of  Scotland.  After  the  death  of  the  Irish  prince,  his 
wife  married  his  successor,  Flann,  who,  according  to  the 
alternate  plan  of  succession,  came  of  the  southern  Hy- 
Nial  family,  and  was  a  son  of  Meloughlin,  once  the  for- 
midable opponent  of  the  lady's  former  husband.  Dur- 
ing the  reign  of  Flann,  Cormac  MacCullinan,  a  prelate 
distinguished  for  his  learning  and  sanctity,  was  obliged 
to  unite  the  office  of  priest  and  king.  This  unusual 
combination,  however,  was  not  altogether  without  pre- 
cedent. The  archbishopric  of  Cashel  owes  its  origin 
remotely  to  this  great  man ;  as  from  the  circumstance 
of  the  city  of  Cashel  having  been  the  seat  of  royalty  in 
the  south,  and  the  residence  of  the  kings  of  Munster,  it 
was  exalted,  in  the  twelfth  century,  to  the  dignity  of  an 
archiepiscopal  see.    Cormac's  history  is  one  of  consid- 


116 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


erable  interest,  and  it  forms  an  important  episode  in  the 
Annals  of  the  ninth  century. 

The  Pour  Masters  thus  record  the  accession  of  Cor- 
mac  to£the  royal  dignity:  "A  change  of  kings  at  Cais- 
eal  (Cashel),  i.e.  Cormac,  son  of  Ciuleannan,  in  the 
place  of  Cenughegan,  i.  e.  Fiuguine."  Keating,1  how- 
ever, gives  full  details,  probably  because  he  took  a  spe- 
cial interest  in  the  good  ecclesiastic,  as  one  of  his  own 
order.  Fiuguine  was  slain,  after  a  reign  of  six  years, 
by  his  own  people  ;  and  as  Cormac  was  next  in  succes- 
sion, he  was  obliged  to  assume  the  government,  al- 
though he  had  embraced  the  ecclesiastical  state.  There 
is  no  doubt  that  the  early  part  of  his  reign  was  singu- 
larly prosperous,  and*  that  the  part  of  Ireland  which  he 
governed  enjoyed  an  uninterrupted  tranquillity,  which 
Keating  thus  describes  :  "  Great  was  the  prosperity  of 
Ireland  during  his  reign  ;  for  the  land  became  filled 
with  the  Divine  grace,  and  with  every  prosperity,  and 
with  public  peace  in  those  days;  so  that  the  cattle 
needed  no  cowherd  and  the  flocks  no  shepherd,  as  long 
as  he  was  king.  The  shrines  of  the  saints  were  then 
protected,  and  many  temples  and  monasteries  were 
built ;  public  schools  were  established  for  the  purpose 
of  giving  instruction  in  letters,  law,  and  history  ;  many 
were  the  tilled  fields,  numerous  the  bees,  and  plenteous 
the  beehives,  under  his  rule ;  frequent  was  fasting  and 
prayer,  and  every  other  work  of  piety ;  many  houses 
of  public  hospitality  were  built,  and  many  books  writ- 
ten at  his  command.  And,  moreover,  whenever  he 
exacted  the  performance  of  any  good  work  from  others, 
he  was  wont  to  set  them  the  example  himself  by  being 
the  first  to  practise  it,  whether  it  was  a  deed  of  alms,  or 
benevolence,  or  prayer,  or  attending  Mass,  or  any  other 
virtuous  deed." 

The  absence  of  the  Danes  from  Ireland  at  this  period 
s  no  doubt  contributed  to  the  general  tranquillity,  and  the 
rest  may  be  credited  to  Cormac's  prudence  and  piety. 
But  this  happy  state  was  not  of  very  long  continuance. 
On  one  occasion,  when  Cormac  was  celebrating  the  Feast 

1  Keating  wrote  his  History  of  Ireland  in  the  seventeenth  century, 
■when  he  had  access  to  many  manuscripts  now  lost  or  destroyed.  He 
was  a  Catholic  priest  of  holy  life,  and  considerable  intellectual 
ability. 


REIGN  OF  CORMAC  MAC  CULLINAN.  H? 

of  Easter  at  Cashel,  he  asked  for  "  food  and  treasures  99 
from  the  Eoghanists.  The  motive  which  led  to  this  de- 
mand is  not  very  clear.  The  rights  of  Irish  kings  and 
chiefs  were  plainly  defined,  and  the  king  of  Cashel  had 
no  claim  whatever  upon  this  clan.  The  tribute,  or 
present  —  for  it  is  by  no  means  certain  in  which  sense 
the  demand  was  made — having  been  refused,  Cormac 
asked  for  jewels  and  other  valuables.  Some  presents 
were  sent,  but  the  gifts  were  as  insulting  as  a  refusal, 
for  they  consisted  of  the  worst  arms  and  goods  which 
the  Eoghanists  possessed.  The  Dalcassians  on  both 
occasions  made  presents  to  Cormac,  in  compensation  or 
atonement  for  the  conduct  of  the  Eoghanists. 

There  was  a  turbulent  and  unruly  ecclesiastic  in 
Cormac's  court,  who  was  continually  urging  him  to 
avenge  this  insult ;  and  another  circumstance  occurred 
soon  after  which  proved  a  still  more  plausible  pretext. 
The  territory  of  Lorcan,  king  of  Thomond,  was  invaded 
by  the  king  of  Connaught.  Flann,  the  ard-righ,  took 
part  in  the  quarrel.  By  the  advice  of  the  abbot  Flaher- 
tach,  Cormac  made  two  campaigns  against  these  united 
forces,  and  in  both  he  was  victorious.  Soon  after, 
another  war  was  proposed  by  the  abbot,  and  the  pre- 
text was,  a  demand  for  tribute  from  the  Leinster  men. 
Cormac  was  most  unwilling  to  undertake  this  expedi- 
tion, having  a  presentiment  that  he  should  be  slain  in 
battle.  But  Flahertach,  and  the  counsel  of  his  other 
chiefs,  prevailed.  Before  he  set  out  he  made  his  will, 
bequeathing  considerable  property  to  different  churches 
and  monasteries, 

Flann  headed  the  opposing  army,  and  they  obtained 
an  easy  victory.  Cormac  was  killed  by  his  horse  roll- 
ing over  him  down  a  hill  made  slippery  by  the  blood 
of  the  slain.  A  common  soldier,  who  recognized  his 
remains,  cut  off  his  head,  and  brought  it  as  a  trophy 
to  Flann ;  but  the  monarch  bewailed  the  death  of  the 
good  and  great  prince,  and  reproved  the  indignity  with 
which  his  remains  had  been  treated.  This  battle  was 
fought  at  a  place  called  Ballaghmoon,  in  the  county  of 
Kildare,  a  few  miles  from  the  town  of  Carlow. 

Flahertach  survived  the  battle,  and,  after  some  years 
spent  in  a  monastery,  became  once  more  minister,  and 
ultimately  kin^  of  Munster.    As  he  advanced  in  years, 


118 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


he  learned  to  love  peace,  and  his  once  irascible  temper 
became  calm  and  equable.  The  Rock  of  Cashel,  and  the 
ruins  of  a  small,  but  once  beautiful  chapel,  still  preserve 
the  memory  of  the  bishop-king.  His  literary  fame  also 
has  its  memorials.  His  "  Rule  "  is  contained  in  a  poem 
of  fourteen  stanzas,  written  in  the  most  pure  and  ancient 
style  of  Gaedhilic,  of  which,  as  well  as  of  many  other 
languages,  the  illustrious  Cormac  was  so  profound  a 
master.  This  "  Rule  ,;  is  general  in  several  of  its  incul- 
cations ;  but  it  appears  to  have  been  written  particu- 
larly as  an  instruction  to  a  priest,  for  the  moral  and 
spiritual  direction  of  himself  and  his  flock.  He  was  also 
skilled  in  the  Ogham  writings,  as  may  be  gathered  from 
a  poem  written  by  a  contemporary,  who,  in  paying  com- 
pliments to  many  of  the  Irish  kings  and  chiefs,  ad- 
dresses the  following  stanza  to  Cormac : — 

Cormac  of  Cashel,  with  his  champions, 
Minister  is  his,  —  may  he  long  enjoy  it ! 
Around  the  King  of  Eaith-  Bicli  are  cultivated 
The  letters  and  the  trees. 

The  battle  in  which  Cormac  lost  his  life  took  place 
a.  d.  903.  Under  the  year  901,  the  death  of  King 
Alfred  is  thus  recorded  :  —  "a.  d.  900  (recte  901) :  Al- 
fred, the  king  who  instituted  the  laws  and  ordinances 
of  the  Saxons,  and  who  was  the  most  distinguished  for 
prowess,  wisdom,  and  piety,  of  the  Saxon  kings,  died." 

Flann's  last  years  were  disturbed  by  domestic  dis- 
sensions. His  sons,  Donough  and  Conor,  both  rebelled 
against  him;  but  Nial  Glunduv  (of  the  black  knee),  a 
northern  Hy-Nial  chief,  led  an  army  against  them,  and 
compelled  them  to  give  hostages  to  their  father.  Flann 
died  the  following  year,  a.  d.  914,  and  was  succeeded 
by  the  prince  who  had  so  ably  defended  him. 

A  fresh  body  of  Northmen  landed  in  Ireland  about 
this  time,  and  the  native  princes  made  a  brave  but 
ineffectual  attempt  to  expel  them.  An  engagement 
took  place  at  Confey,  near  the  present  Leixlip,  in  which 
the  Irish  were  repulsed  with  great  slaughter,  a.  d.  915. 
Two  years  later,  another  attempt  was  made  to  dislodge 
the  intruders ;  but  the  results  were  even  more  disas- 
trous. Nial  and  his  chieftains  attacked  the  outskirts 
of  the  Danish  camp  at  Eathfarnham,  near  Dublin,  and 
drove  them  nearly  into  their  fortress  of  Ath-Cliath. 


MURTAGH'S  CIRCUIT  OF  IRELAND. 


119 


Here,  however,  the  brave  Nial  was  slain,  and  his  forces 
totally  routed. 

Donough,  son  of  Flann,  succeeded  to  the  chief  sover- 
eignty. His  character  is  not  depicted  in  very  flatter- 
ing terms  by  the  annalists.  Muirkertach,  son  of  Nial, 
the  preceding  monarch,  was  next  heir  to  the  throne, 
and,  as  such,  took  an  important  part  in  public  affairs. 
He  was  a  brave  and  generous-minded  chieftain,  and 
more  than  once  yielded  to  the  innovations  of  Donough, 
to  prevent  further  dissensions  in  his  already  distracted 
country.  He  was  the  most  formidable  opponent  whom 
the  Danish  invaders  had  as  yet  encountered  ;  but  his 
efforts  were  continually  frustrated  by  Oallaghan  of 
Cashel,  king  of  Munster,  a  brave  chief  also,  but  thor- 
oughly selfish  in  all  his  policy.  He  kept  up  the  hered- 
itary feud  which  distracted  and  disgraced  Ireland  for  so 
many  centuries,  and,  as  it  suited  his  convenience, 
allied  himself  with  or  against  the  Danes.  In  934,  he 
pillaged  Clonmacnoise,  which  had  suffered  the  same 
treatment  from  the  Danes  a  few  months  previously  ;  and 
in  937  he  united  with  them  in  invading  Meath  and 
Ossory. 

In  939  Murtagh  attacked  the  Norsemen  in  the  Heb- 
rides, and  on  his  return  prepared  for  his  historically 
famous  circuit  of  Ireland.1  He  assembled  an  army,  com- 
posed of  a  thousand  soldiers,  renowned  for  valor,  and, 
at  their  head,  commenced  his  journey.  As  his  soldiers 
were  supplied  with  leathern  cloaks,  to  protect  them  from 
the  cold  at  night,  he  obtained  the  sobriquet  of  Murtagh 
of  the  Leathern  Cloaks.  Besides  overawing  and  subdu- 
ing the  Danes,  this  prince  intended  to  take  hostages 
from  all  the  native  princes,  to  compel  them,  if  possible, 
to  keep  peace.  He  marched  first  to  Dublin,  "keeping 
the  sea  on  his  left  hand,"  where  he  seized  Sitric,  broth- 
er, of  Godfred,  the  Danish  king.  The  Leinster  men  at 
first  made  some  show  of  resistance,  and  assembled  in 
great  numbers  to  intercept  his  course  at  Glen-Mama, 
near  Dunlaven.  They  had  encamped  at  night ;  but 
when  they  saw  the  powerful  host  by  which  Murtagh 
was  attended,  discretion  seemed  the  best  part  of  valor, 

1  A  contemporary  account  of  this  circuit  was  written  in  verse  by 
Cormacan  the  poet,  who  died  a.d.948.  It  has  "been  translated  intoEng 
lish,  with  valuable  notes,  for  the  Irish  Archaeological  Society  by  the 
late  Dr.  O'Donovao 


/ 


120 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


and  they  retired,  leaving  the  northern  chieftain  to  pur- 
sue his  victorious  course. 

At  the  fortress  of  Aillinn  he  seized  and  fettered  Lor- 
can,  king  of  Leinster.  He  then  marched  into  Munster, 
and  "  put  a  fetter"  upon  Callaghan,  king  of  Cashei. 
In  Connaught,  Conor,  son  of  the  king  of  that  province 
offered  himself  as  hostage,  and  was  not  fettered.  The 
circuit  being  completed,  Murtagh  returned  to  his  for- 
tress at  Aileach,  where  he  entertained  his  unwilling 
captives  for  five  months,  and  each  was  served  "as  a 
monarch  should  be  attended."  At  the  conclusion  of 
this  period,  he  transferred  the  hostages  to  the  care  of 
Donough,  the  then  monarch  of  Ireland. 

Two  years  later  the  hero  was  slain  by  Blacaire,  a 
son  of  the  Danish  monarch  at  Ardee.  Callaghan  of 
Cashei,  who  had  been  restored  to  his  kingdom,  died  ten 
years  after.  Donough,  who  was  styled  monarch  of 
Tara —  a  title  given  to  the  ard-righ  for  many  centuries 
after  the  desertion  of  that  place — was  succeeded  by 
Congallach.  He  was  killed  by  the  Danes  in  954,  and 
Donnell  O'Neilj  son  of  Murtagh,  obtained  the  royal 
dignity 


BRIAN  BORU. 


121 


CHAPTER  IS. 

CULMINATION  OP  THE  DANISH  POWER  TERMINAT- 
ING WITH  THE  BATTLE  OF  CLONTARF. 

A.D.954  TO  A.  D.  1014. 

Contemporary  Events  :— Otho  I.  crowned  Emperor  of  Germany  by 
the  Pope —  Extinction  of  the  Carlovingian  Dynasty— The  Danes 
obtain  great  p'ower  in  England— Legalization  of  Tournaments  — 
Invention  of  Musical  Notes. 

The  Danes  are  said  to  have  been  converted  to  Chris- 
tianity about  the  middle  of  the  tenth  century ;  but,  as 
they  continued  to  plunder  shrines  and  burn  churches 
as  before,  their  conversion  must  have  been  merely  nom- 
inal. The  divisions  of  the  native  Irish — which,  from 
wanting  a  competent  and  acknowledged  head,  seem, 
rather  to  have  increased  than  to  have  lessened  —  tended 
to  consolidate  the  Danish  power.  The  northern  and 
southern  Hy-Nials  alternated  the  sovereignty  with  tol- 
erable fairness ;  but  as  the  southern  Hy-Nials  were  far 
inferior  in  power  to  their  northern  relations,  when  it 
came  to  their  turn  to  rule,  much  weakness,  and,  conse- 
quently, much  dissension  was  inevitable. 

The  government  of  Munster  had  also  been  settled 
on  the  alternate  principle,  between  the  Dalcassians,  or 
northern  Munster  race,  and  the  Eoghanists,  or  south- 
erns. This  rule,  however,  was  not  regularly  observed, 
and  for  a  long  time  the  Desmonds,  who  belonged  to 
the  southern  clan,  kept  the  right  of  succession  from  the 
northerns.  Cormac  MacCuilennan  wished  to  restore 
the  ancient  arrangement,  and  managed  so  that  Lorcan, 
king  of  Thomond,  should  obtain  his  turn.  In  942  his 
son  Kennedy,  the  father  of  the  famous  Brian  Boru,  con- 
tested the  kingdom  with  an  Eoghanist  prince,  Callahan, 
but  yielded  his  claims,  and  joined  his  opponent  in  fight- 
ing against  the  Danes.  In  960  Mahoun,  the  eldest  son 
of  Kennedy,  obtained  the  crown  of  Munster,  his  brother 
5 


122 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


Brian  being  the  heir  apparent.  The  exploits  of  these 
two  chieftains  and  brothers  form  an  important  and  in- 
teresting episode  in  the  history  of  the  period,  and  are 
detailed  at  considerable  length.  The  Danes  and  the 
Connaught  men,  who  had  invaded  Thomond,  afforded 
ample  occupation  for  their  military  prowess,  and  a  guer- 
illa war  was  carried  on  for  some  time  in  the  woods  of 
Thomond,  in  which  no  quarter  was  given  on  either  side, 
and  wherein  it  was  "  woe  to  either  party  to  meet  the 
other."  Mahoun  at  last  proposed  a  truce,  but  Brian 
refused  to  consent  to  this  arrangement.  He  continued 
the  war  until  he  found  his  army  reduced  to  fifteen  men. 
Mahoun  then  sent  for  him.  An  interview  took  place, 
which  is  described  in  the  form  of  a  poetic  dialogue, 
between  the  two  brothers.  Brian  reproached  Mahoun 
with  cowardice  ;  Mahoun  reproached  Brian  with  impru- 
dence. Brian  hints  broadly  that  Mahoun  had  interested 
motives  in  making  this  truce,  and  declares  that  neither 
Kennedy  their  father,  nor  Lorcan  their  grandfather, 
would  have  been  so  quiescent  towards  the  foreigners 
for  the  sake  of  wealth,  nor  would  they  have  given  them 
even  as  much  time  as  would  have  sufficed  to  play  a  game 
of  chess1  on  the  green  of  Mogadare.  Mahoun  kept  his 
temper,  and  contented  himself  with  reproaching  Brian 
for  his  recklessness,  in  sacrificing  the  lives  of  so  many 
of  his  faithful  followers  to  no  purpose.  Brian  replied 
that  he  would  never  abandon  his  inheritance,  without  a 
contest,  to  "such  foreigners  as  Black  Grim  Gentiles." 

The  result  was  a  conference  of  the  tribe,  who  voted 
for  war,  and  marched  into  the  country  of  the  Eoghanists 
(the  present  county  Kerry),  who  at  once  joined  the 
standard  of  the  Dalcassians.  The  Danes  suffered  severe- 
ly in  Munster.  This  aroused  the  Limerick  Danes  ;  and 
their  chieftain,  Ivar,  attacked  the  territory  of  Dal-Cais, 
an  exploit  in  which  he  was  joined,  to  their  eternal 
shame,  by  several  native  princes  and  tribes,  amongst 
whom  were  Molloy,  son  of  Braun,  king  of  Desmond,  and 
Donovan,  son  of  Cathal,  king  of  Carbry.  The  result 
was  a  fierce  battle  at  Sulcoit,  near  Tipperary,  wherein 

1  Flann  Sionna,  monarch  of  Ireland,  had  encamped  on  this  plain 
and  ostentatiously  commenced  a  ?ame  of  chess  as  a  mark  or  con- 
tempt for  the  chieftains  whose  country  he  had  invaded.  His  folly 
met  its  just  punishment,  for  he  was  ignominiously  defeated.— See 
Wars  of  the  Gaedhil,  p.  113,  note. 


DEFEAT  OF  THE  DANES. 


123 


the  Danes  were  gloriously  defeated.  The  action  was 
commenced  by  the  Northmen.  It  continued  from  sun- 
rise till  midday,  and  terminated  in  the  rout  of  the  for- 
eigners, who  fled  "  to  the  ditches,  and  to  the  valleys, 
and  to  the  solitudes  of  the  great  sweet  flower  plain," 
where  tbey  were  followed  by  the  conquerors,  and  mas- 
sacred without  mercy. 

The  Dalcassians  now  obtained  possession  of  Limerick, 
with  immense  spoils  of  jewels,  gold  and  silver,  foreign 
saddles,  "  soft,  youthful,  bright  girls,  blooming  silk-clad 
women,  and  active,  well-formed  boys."  The  active 
boys  were  soon  disposed  of,  for  we  find  that  they  col- 
lected the  prisoners  on  the  hillocks  of  Saingel,  where 
"  every  one  that  was  fit  for  war  was  put  to  death,  and 
every  one  that  was  fit  for  a  slave  was  enslaved."  This 
event  is  dated  a.  d.  968. 

Mahoun  was  now  firmly  established  on  the  throne, 
but  his  success  procured  him  many  enemies.  A  con- 
spiracy was  formed  against  him  under  the  auspices  of 
Ivar  of  Limerick  and  his  son  Dubhcenn.  The  Eoghan- 
ist  clans  basely  withdrew  their  allegiance  from  their 
lawful  sovereign,  allied  themselves  with  the  Danes,  and 
became  principals  in  the  plot  of  assassination.  Their 
motive  was  as  simple  as  their  conduct  was  vile.  The 
two  Eoghanist  families  were  represented  by  Donovan 
and  Molloy.  They  were  descendants  of  Oilioll  Oluim, 
from  whom  Mahoun  was  also  descended,  but  his  family 
were  Dalcassians.  Hitherto  the  Eoghanists  had  suc- 
ceeded in  depriving  the  tribes  of  Dal-Cais  of  their  fair 
share  of  alternate  succession  to  the  throne  of  Munster  ; 
they  became  alarmed  at  and  jealous  of  the  advancement 
of  the  younger  tribe,  and  determined  to  do  by  treachery 
what  they  could  not  do  by  force.  With  the  usual  head- 
long eagerness  of  traitors,  they  seem  to  have  forgotten 
Brian,  and  quite  overlooked  the  retribution  they  might 
expect  at  his  hands  for  their  crime.  There  are  two  dif- 
ferent accounts  of  the  murder,  which  do  not  coincide  in 
detail.  On  the  main  facts,  however,  we  may  rely. 
Mahoun  was  entrapped  in  some  way  to  the  house  of 
Donovan,  and  there  he  was  basely  murdered,  in  viola- 
tion of  the  rights  of  hospitality,  and  in  defiance  of  the 
safe-conduct  of  the  bishop,  which  he  secured  before  his 
visit. 


124 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


The  traitors  gained  nothing  by  their  treachery  ex- 
cept the  contempt  of  posterity.  Brian  was  not  slow  in 
avenging  his  brother.  "He  was  not  a  stone  in  place 
of  an  egg,  nor  a  wisp  of  hay  in  place  of  a  club  ;  but  he 
was  a  hero  in  place  of  a  hero,  and  valor  after  valor. " 

Public  opinion  was  not  mistaken  in  its  estimate  of  his 
character.  Two  years  after  the  death  of  Mahoun,  Brian 
invaded  Donovan's  territory,  drove  off  his  cattle,  took 
the  fortress  of  Cathair  Ouan,  and  slew  'Donovan  and 
his  Danish  ally,  Harolt.  He  next  proceeded  to  settle 
accounts  with  Molloy.  Cogaran  is  sent  to  the  whole 
tribe  of  Ui  Eachach,  to  know  "the  reason  why  "  they 
killed  Mahoun,  and  to  declare  that  no  cumhal  or  fine 
would  be  received,  either  in  the  shape  of  hostages, 
gold,  or  cattle,  but  that  Molloy  himself  must  be  given 
up.  Messages  were  also  sent  to  Molloy,  both  general 
and  particular.  The  general  message  challenged  him 
to  battle  at  Belach-Lechta ;  the  particular  message, 
which  in  truth  he  hardly  deserved,  was  a  challenge  to 
meet  Murrough,  Brian's  son,  in  single  combat.  The 
result  was  the  battle  of  Belach-Lechta,  where  Molloy 
was  slain,  with  twelve  hundred  of  his  troops,  both 
native  and  foreign.  Brian  remained  master  of  the  field 
and  of  the  kingdom,  a.  d.  978. 

Brian  was  now  undisputed  king  of  Munster.  In  984, 
he  was  acknowledged  monarch  of  Leth  Mogha,  the 
southern  half  of  Ireland.  Meanwhile,  Malachy,  who 
governed  Leth  Cuinn,  or  the  northern  half  of  Ireland, 
had  not  been  idle.  He  fought  a  battle  with  the 
Danes  in  979,  near  Tara,  in  which  he  defeated  their 
forces,  and  slew  Raguall,  son  of  Amlaif,  king  of  Dublin. 
Amlaif  felt  the  defeat  so  severely  that  he  retired  to  Iona, 
where  he  died  of  a  broken  heart.  Donough  O'Neill, 
son  of  Murtagh,  died  this  year,  and  Malachy  obtained 
the  regal  dignity.  Emboldened  by  his  success  at  Tara, 
he  resolved  to  attack  the  foreigners  in  Dublin ;  he 
therefore  laid  siege  to  that  city,  and  compelled  it  to 
surrender  after  three  days,  liberating  two  thousand 
prisoners,  including  the  king  of  Leinster,  and  took 
abundant  spoils.  At  the  same  time,  he  issued  a  proc- 
lamation, freeing  every  Irishman  then  in  bondage  to 
the  Danes,  and  stipulating  that  the  race  of  Nial  should 
henceforth  be  free  from  tribute  to  the  foreigners 


FEUD  BETWEEN  BRIAN  AND  MALACHY.  125 

It  is  probable  that  Brian  had  already  formed  designs 
for  obtaining  the  royal  power.  The  country  resounded 
with  the  fame  of  his  exploits,  and  Malachy  became 
aware  at  last  that  he  must  either  have  him  for  an  ally 
or  an  enemy.  He  prudently  chose  the  former  alterna- 
native,  and  in  the  nineteenth  year  of  his  reign  (99T 
according  to  the  Pour  Masters),  he  made  arrangements 
with  Brian  for  a  campaign  against  the  common  enemy. 
Malachy  surrendered  all  hostages  to  Brian,  and  Brian 
agreed  to  recognize  Malachy  as  sole  monarch  of  north- 
ern Erin,  "  without  war  or  trespass/7  This  treaty  was 
absolutely  necessary,  in  order  to  offer  effective  resist- 
ance to  the  Danes.  The  conduct  of  the  two  kings 
towards  each  other  had  not  been  of  a  conciliatory 
nature  previously.  In  981  Malachy  had  invaded  the 
territory  of  the  Dalcassians,  and  uprooted  the  great 
oak-tree  of  Magh  Adair,  under  which  its  kings  were 
crowned  —  an  insult  which  could  not  fail  to  excite  bit- 
ter feelings  both  in  prince  and  people.  In  989  the 
monarch  occupied  himself  fighting  the  Danes  in  Dublin, 
to  whom  he  laid  siege  for  twenty  nights,  reducing  the 
garrison  to  such  straits  that  they  were  obliged  to  drink 
the  salt  water  when  the  tide  rose  in  the  river.  Brian 
then  made  reprisals  on  Malachy,  by  sending  boats  up 
the  Shannon,  burning  the  royal  rath  of  Dun  Sciath. 
Malachy,  in  his  turn,  recrossed  the  Shannon,  burned 
Nenagh,  plundered  Ormonde,  and  defeated  Brian  him- 
self in  battle.  He  then  marched  again  to  Dublin,  and 
once  more  attacked  "  the  proud  invader."  It  was  on 
this  occasion  that  he  obtained  the  "  collar  of  gold," 
which  Moore  has  immortalized  in  his  world-famous 
"  Melodies." 

When  the  kings  had  united  their  forces,  they  obtained 
another  important  victory  at  Glen-Mama.  Harolt,  son 
of  Olaf  Cuaran,  the  then  Danish  king,  was  slain,  and 
four  thousand  of  his  followers  perished  with  him.  The 
victorious  army  marched  at  once  to  Dublin.  Here  they 
obtained  spoils  of  great  value,  and  made  many  slaves 
and  captives.  According  to  some  accounts,  Brian  re- 
mained in  Dublin  until  the  feast  of  St.  Brigid  (February 
1);  other  annalists  say  that  he  remained  only  from 
Great  Christmas  to  Little  Christmas.  Meanwhile  there 
can  be  but  little  doubt  that  Brian  had  in  view  the  ac« 


126 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


quisition  of  the  right  to  be  called  sole  monarch  of  Ire- 
land. It  is  a  blot  on  an  otherwise  noble  character  —  an 
ugly  spot  in  a  picture  of  more  than  ordinary  interest. 
Sitric,  another  son  of  Olaf  s,  fled  for  protection  to  Aedh 
and  Eochaidh,  two  northern  chieftains ;  but  they  gave 
him  up,  from  motives  of  fear  or  policy,  to  Brian's  sol- 
diers, and  after  due  submission,  he  was  restored  to  his 
former  position.  Brian  then  gave  his  daughter  in  mar- 
riage to  Sitric,  and  completed  the  family  alliance  by 
espousing  Sitric's  mother,  Gormflaith,  a  lady  of  rather 
remarkable  character,  who  had  been  divorced  from  her 
second  husband,  Malachy.  Brian  now  proceeded  to 
depose  Malachy.  The  account  of  this  important  trans- 
action is  given  in  so  varied  a  manner  by  different  writ- 
ers, that  it  seems  almost  impossible  to  ascertain  the 
truth.  The  southern  annalists  are  loud  in  their  asser- 
tions of  the  incapacity  of  the  reigning  monarch,  and 
would  have  it  believed  that  Brian  only  yielded  to  the 
urgent  entreaties  of  his  countrymen  in  accepting  the 
proffered  crown.  But  the  warlike  exploits  of  Malachy 
have  been  too  faithfully  recorded  to  leave  any  doubt  as 
to  his  prowess  in  the  field  ;  and  we  may  probably  class 
the  regret  of  his  opponent,  in  accepting  his  position, 
with  similar  protestations  made  under  circumstances  in 
which  such  regret  was  as  little  likely  to  be  real. 

The  poet  Moore,  with  evident  partiality  for  the  sub- 
ject of  his  song,  declares  that  the  magnanimous  charac- 
ter of  Malachy  was  the  real  ground  of  peace  under  such 
provocation,  and  that  he  submitted  to  the  encroach- 
ments of  his  rival  rather  from  motives  of  disinterested 
desire  for  his  country's  welfare,  than  from  any  reluc- 
tance or  inability  to  fight  his  own  battle. 

But  Brian  had  other  chieftains  to  deal  with,  cf  less 
amiable  or  more  warlike  propensities.  The  proud  ITy- 
Nials  of  the  north  were  long  in  yielding  to  his  claims  ; 
but  even  these  he  at  length  subdued,  compelling  the 
Cinel-Eoghain  to  give  him  hostages,  and  carrying  off 
the  lord  of  Cinel-Connaill  bodily  to  his  fortress  at  Kin- 
cora.  Here  he  had  assembled  a  sort  of  "  happy  fam- 
ily/' consisting  of  refractory  princes  and  knights,  who, 
refusing  hostages  to  keep  the  peace  with  each  other, 
were  obliged  to  submit  to  the  royal  will  and  pleasure, 
and  at  least  to  appear  outwardly  in  harmony 


CAUSES  OF  THE  BATTLE  OF  CLONTARF. 


12T 


These  precautionary  measures,  however  summary, 
and  the  energetic  determination  of  Brian  to  have  peace, 
kept  either  by  sword  or  law,  have  given  rise  to  the 
romantic  ballad  of  the  lady  perambulating  Ireland  with 
a  gold  ring  and  white  wand,  and  passing  unmolested 
through  its  once  belligerent  kingdoms. 

Brian  now  turned  his  attention  to  the  state  of  religion 
and  literature,  restoring  the  churches  and  monasteries 
which  had  been  plundered  and  burnt  by  the  Danes. 
He  is  said  also  to  have  founded  the  churches  of  Killaloe 
and  Iniscealtra,  and  to  have  built  the  round  tower  of 
Tomgrany,  in  the  present  county  Clare,  A  gift  of 
twenty  ounces  of  gold  to  the  church  of  Armagh  —  a 
large  donation  for  that  period  —  is  also  recorded 
amongst  his  good  deeds. 

There  is  some  question  as  to  the  precise  year  in 
which  Brian  obtained  or  usurped  the  authority  and  po- 
sition of  Ard-Righ  :  a.  d.  1002,  however,  is  the  date  most 
usually  accepted.  He  was  probably  about  sixty-ono 
years  of  age,  and  Malachy  was  then  about  fifty-three. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  incessant,  though  often 
ineffectual,  efforts  to  drive  out  the  Danes  had  been  made 
by  Irish  princes  and  chiefs  from  time  to  time.  On  some 
occasions  the  enemy  was  expelled  for  a  time,  and  the 
few  settlers  who  were  not,  or  could  not  be  driven  out, 
were  powerless  to  work  any  harm,  and  thankful  for  per- 
mission to  remain  on  sufferance.  But  the  Danes  never 
absented  themselves  in  great  numbers  for  any  consid- 
erable period,  and  after  each  partial  expulsion  they 
returned  in  still  greater  force,  and  with  a  yet  stronger 
determination  to  make  themselves  masters  of  the  coun- 
try. The  Irish,  on  their  side,  were  always  anxious  to 
make  a  continued  effort  to  drive  them  out  finally.  Such 
an  effort  was  made  and  perfected  by  the  superior  gen- 
eralship and  bravery  of  the  famous  Brian  .Boru.  But 
Brian's  wife,  Gormflaith,  was  the  means  of  exciting 
the  immediate  cause  of  the  quarrel  which  ended  in  the 
final  expulsion  of  the  Danes.  This  lady  had  been  mar- 
ried three  times.  Her  first  husband  was  a  Dane,  Olaf 
Cuaran  :  her  second  husband  was  the  then  chief  mon- 
arch of  Ireland,  Malachy ;  and  her  third  husband  was 
Brian  Boru.  The  best  authorities  have  admitted  it  to 
be  impossible  to  explain  her  matrimonial  arrangements 


128 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


clearly ;  and  as  her  three  husbands  were  all  living  at  the 
same  time,  the  difficulty  is  easily  accounted  for.  In  Dr. 
Dascent's  version  of  "  Burnt  Njal,"  he  makes  Brian  her 
first  husband ;  but  this  is  evidently  a  mistake.  Brian 
married  another  wife  after  he  had  repudiated  Gormflaith, 
but  she  lived  with  him  at  his  palace  of  Kincora  after  the 
death  of  this  lady. 

Gormflaith's  three  marriages  are  described  in  the 
Annals  as  "  three  jumps*,  which  a  woman  should  never 
jump  ;  "  a  hint  that  her  matrimonial  arrangements  had 
not  the  sanction  of  canon  law.  She  was  remarkable 
for  her  beauty  as  well  as  for  her  proud  and  violent  tem- 
per, which  was  probably  the  reason  why  she  was  repu- 
diated by  Malachy  and  Brian.  Her  brother  Maelmurra 
was  king  of  Leinster.  He  had  been  established  on  his 
throne  by  the  Danes,  and  was,  therefore,  to  a  certain 
extent,  their  vassal.  But  Maelmurra  was  also  subject 
to  Brian,  and  obliged  to  pay  him  certain  tributes. 
While  his  sister  Gormflaith  was  at  Kincora,  he  came 
there  also  with  a  tribute,  of  which  pine  masts  for  ship- 
building formed  a  principal  part.  The  trees  had  been 
cut  in  the  great  pine  forest  at  Feegile,  near  the  present 
town  of  Portarlington.  Two  other  tribes  were  bringing 
their  tributes  at  the  same  time,  and  a  dispute  occurred 
for  precedency  as  they  crossed  the  mountains.  To  set- 
tle the  dispute,  Maelmurra  assisted  in  carrying  the 
trees  of  the  Ui  Failens. 

But  the  king  of  Ireland  was  also  obliged  to  give  cer- 
tain, "  rights  ,;  or  presents  to  his  tributaries;  and  amongst 
these  rights  we  find  mention  of  "  fine-textured  clothes/7 
which  the  ard-righ  was  bound  to  bestow  upon  the  king 
of  Leinster.  Maelmurra  wore  a  tunic  of  silk  with  a  gold 
brocade  and  silver  buttons,  which  Brian  had  given  him. 
In  lifting  the  tree,  one  of  the  buttons  was  torn  off,  and 
on  his  arrival  at  Kincora,  he  asked  his  sister  to  mend  it 
for  him.  But  the  haughty  lady  flung  the  garment  into 
the  fire,  and  reproached  her  brother  bitterly  with  con- 
descending to  accept  a  token  of  vassalage,  and  so  fired 
his  pride,  that  he  was  prepared  for  any  outrage.  An 
occasion  of  offence  soon  arose.  Brian  had  three  sons 
by  Mor,  his  first  wife*.  While  the  eldest,  Murrogh,  was 
playing  chess  with  his  cousin  Conaing,  Maelmurra  was 
looking  on;  and  suggested  a  move  by  which  Murrogh 


MAELMURRA  QUARRELS  WITH  BRIAN. 


129 


lost  the  game.  The  youth  turned  on  Maelmurra  and 
exclaimed,  "That  was  like  the  advice  you  gave  to  the 
Danes,  which  lost  them  Glen-Mama."  The  other  an- 
swered, "  I  will  give  them  advice  now,  and  they  shall 
not  again  be  defeated."  Murrogh  retorted,  "Then 
you  had  better  remind  them  to  prepare  a  yew  tree  for 
your  reception."  This  was  a  keen  insult,  and  in  it- 
self quite  sufficient  to  give  rise  to  a  serious  quarrel. 
At  the  battle  of  Glen-Mama,  Maelmurra  had  fought 
with  the  Danes  against  Brian,  hoping  thereby  to  secure 
the  crown  of  Leinster  for  himself.  But  when  victory 
declared  for  Brian,  Maelmurra  hid  himself  in  a  yew  tree, 
where  he  was  discovered  and  captured  by  the  very 
youth  who  now  taunted  him  with  his  cowardice.  When 
Brian  made  alliance  himself  with  the  Danes  he  joined 
Maelmurra  in  the  treaty,  and  assisted  him  in  attaining 
the  object  of  his  ambition. 

Early  on  the  following  morning,  Maelmurra  left  Kin- 
cora  in  a  rage,  "  without  permission  and  without  taking 
leave."  Brian  despatched  a  messenger  after  him,  to 
pacify  him  and  to  entreat  him  to  return,  but  the  angry 
chief,  for  all  reply,  "  broke  all  the  bones  in  his  head."  If 
civil  war  was  Gormflaith's  object,  she  certainly  attained 
her  end.  Maelmurra  proceeded  homewards  rapidly ; 
and  detailed  accounts  of  his  journey,  of  considerable 
topographical  interest,  are  given.  His  clan  were  soon 
roused  to  avenge  the  insults  offered  to  their  chief.  The 
O'Rourkes,  O'Niels,  O'Flahertys,  and  Kearys  all  prom- 
ised to  assist  him.  O'Niel  ravaged  Meath  ;  O'Rourke 
attacked  Malachy  and  slew  his  grandson  Drumale,  the 
heir-apparent.  But  Malachy  amply  repaid  these  out- 
rages, and  defeated  his  assailants  soon  after  in  a  bloody 
engagement.  He  then  divided  his  forces  into  three 
parties,  and  plundered  Leinster  as  far  as  Meath.  Repri- 
sals were  made  on  each  side  with  varying  success,  until 
Malachy  found  that  the  Danes  and  Leinster  men,  united, 
were  too  many  for  him,  and  sent  messengers  to  Brian 
demanding  the  protection  to  which  he  was  entitled  as 
his  vassal. 

Brian  obeyed  the  summons  promptly.  After  ravag- 
ing Ossory  successfully,  he  marched  to  Dublin,  where 
he  was  joined  by  his  son  Murrogh,  who  had  devastated 
Wicklow,  burning,  destroying,  and  carrying  off  cap- 


130 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


lives,  until  he  readied  Kilraainham.  Here  the  two 
armies  united,  and  stockaded  Dublin,  where  they  re- 
mained encamped  "from  the  festival  of  St.  Ciaran  in 
Harvest  (Sept.  9)  until  Christmas  Day."  Want  of  pro- 
visions obliged  them  then  to  raise  the  siege. 

During  the  depth  of  winter  all  parties  remained  inac- 
tive, but  as  spring  approached  formidable  preparations 
were  made  on  every  side.  Gormflaith,  who,  according 
to  the  Annals,  was  "  grim  "  against  Brian,  had  joined 
her  brother  Maelmurra  and  her  son  Sitric.  It  would 
appear  that  this  lady  was  not  very  well  received  by 
Brian,  on  her  return  to  Kincora,  and  hence  the  "  grim- 
ness  "  which  left  no  efforts  unused  to  avenge  itself. 

The  storm  was  now  gathering  in  earnest,  and  the 
most  active  preparations  were  made  on  both  sides  for 
a  mighty  and  decisive  conflict.  Ambassadors  were 
despatched  in  all  directions  to  obtain  reinforcements. 
Brodir,  the  earl,  and  Amlaif,  son  of  the  king  of  Loch- 
lann,  "the  two  earls  of  Cair,  and  of  all  the  north  of 
Saxon  land,"  came  at  the  head  of  two  thousand  men; 
"and  there  was  not  one  villain  of  that  two  thousand 
who  had  not  polished,  strong,  triple-plated  armor  of 
refined  iron,  or  of  cooling,  uncorroding  brass,  encasing 
their  sides  and  bodies  from  head  to  foot."  Moreover, 
the  said  villains  "  had  no  reverence,  veneration,  or 
respect,  or  mercy  for  God  or  man,  for  church  or  for 
sanctuary ;  they  were  cruel,  ferocious,  plundering, 
hard-hearted,  wonderful  Dannarbrians,  selling  and  hir- 
ing themselves  for  gold  and  silver,  and  other  treasure  as 
well." 

Gormflaith  was  evidently  one  of  the  most  efficient 
agents  on  the  occasion,  for  we  find  wonderful  accounts 
of  her  zeal  and  efforts  in  collecting  forces.  "  Other 
treasure  "  may  possibly  be  referred  to  that  lady's  hand, 
of  which  she  appears  to  have  been  very  liberal  on  all 
occasions.  She  despatched  her  son,  Sitric,  to  Siguard, 
earl  of  the  Orkneys,  who  promised  his  assistance,  but 
he  required  the  hand  of  Gormflaith  as  payment  for  his 
services,  and  that  he  should  be  made  king  of  Ireland. 
Sitric  gave  the  required  promise,  and  found,  on  his 
return  to  Dublin,  that  it  met  with  his  mother's  entire 
approbation.  She  then  despatched  him  to  the  Isle  of 
Man,  where  there  were  two  vikings,  who  had  thirty 


PREPARATIONS  FOB  THE  BATTLE  OF  CLONTARF.  131 

ships,  and  she  desired  him  to  obtain  their  co-operation 
at  any  price.  They  were  the  brothers  Ospak  and  Bro- 
dir.  The  latter  demanded  the  same  conditions  as  the 
earl  Siguard,  which  were  promised  quite  as  readily  by 
Sitric,  only  he  charged  the  viking  to  keep  the  agree- 
ment secret,  and,  above  all,  not  to  mention  it  to  Siguard. 

Brodir,1  according  to  the  Saga,  was  an  apostate 
Christian,  who  had  thrown  off  his  faith,  and  become 
God's  dastard.  He  was  both  tall  and  strong,  and  his 
long  black  hair,  which  he  wore  tucked  under  his  belt, 
perhaps  gained  him  the  reputation  of  being  a  magician. 

The  viking  Ospak,  however,  refused  to  fight  against 
the  good  king  Brian,  whom  he  found  at  Kincora,  where 
he  made  profession  of  Christianity  and  was  baptized. 
The  description  of  Brodir  is  taken  from  the  Saga,  the 
man  being  especially  noteworthy  as  the  slayer  of  Brian 
after  the  battle  of  Clontarf. 

The  author  of  the  Wars  of  the  Gael  gives  a  formida- 
ble list  of  the  other  auxiliaries  who  were  invited  by  the 
Danes  of  Dublin,  and  the  Annals  of  Loch  Ce  also  give 
an  account  of  the  fleet  which  they  assembled  and  its 
chosen  leader.  Maelmurra  was  too  near  the  restless 
and  revengeful  Gormflaith  to  remain  inactive,  even  had 
he  been  so  inclined.  He  had  mustered  a  formidable 
force  within  the  city  of  Dublin,  which  he  divided  into 
three  battalions.  The  Leinster  men  all  followed  his 
standard,  and  he  was  also  joined  by  the  Wexford  men. 

Meanwhile,  Brian  had  been  scarcely  less  successful, 
and  probably  not  less  active.  He  now  marched  towards 
Dublin,  "with  all  that  obeyed  him  of  the  men  of 
Ireland."  These  were  the  provincial  troops  of  Mun- 
ster  and  Connaught,  and  the  men  of  Meath.  His  march 
is  thus  described  in  the  Wars  of  the  Gael: — "Brian 
looked  out  behind  him,  and  beheld  the  battle  phalanx 
—  compact,  huge,  disciplined,  moving  in  silence, 
mutely,  bravely,  haughtily,  unitedly,  with  one  mind, 
traversing  the  plain  towards  them  ;  three  score  and  ten 
banners  over  them  —  of  red,  and  of  yellow,  and  of 
green,  and  of  all  kinds  of  colors." 

1  It  has  been  suggested  that  this  was  not  his  real  name.  He  was 
Ospak's  brother,  and  Brodir  may  have  been  mistaken  for  a  proper 
name.  There  was  a  Danish  viking  named  Gutring,  who  was  an 
apostate  deacon,  and  who  may  have  been  the  Brodir  of  Irish  his- 
tory 


130 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


tives,  until  he  reached  Kilmainham.  Here  the  two 
armies  united,  and  stockaded  Dublin,  where  they  re- 
mained encamped  "from  the  festival  of  St.  Ciaran  in 
Harvest  (Sept.  9)  until  Christmas  Day."  Want  of  pro- 
visions obliged  them  then  to  raise  the  siege. 

During  the  depth  of  winter  all  parties  remained  inac- 
tive, but  as  spring  approached  formidable  preparations 
were  made  on  every  side.  Gormflaith,  who,  according 
to  the  Annals,  was  "  grim  "  against  Brian,  had  joined 
her  brother  Maelmurra  and  her  son  Sitric.  It  would 
appear  that  this  lady  was  not  very  well  received  by 
Brian,  on  her  return  to  Kincora,  and  hence  the  "  grim- 
ness  "  which  left  no  efforts  unused  to  avenge  itself. 

The  storm  was  now  gathering  in  earnest,  and  the 
most  active  preparations  were  made  on  both  sides  for 
a  mighty  and  decisive  conflict.  Ambassadors  were 
despatched  in  all  directions  to  obtain  reinforcements. 
Brodir,  the  earl,  and  Amlaif,  son  of  the  king  of  Loch- 
lann,  "the  two  earls  of  Cair,  and  of  all  the  north  of 
Saxon  land,"  came  at  the  head  of  two  thousand  men ; 
u  and  there  was  not  one  villain  of  that  two  thousand 
who  had  not  polished,  strong,  triple-plated  armor  of 
refined  iron,  or  of  cooling,  uncorroding  brass,  encasing 
their  sides  and  bodies  from  head  to  foot."  Moreover, 
the  said  villains  "  had  no  reverence,  veneration,  or 
respect,  or  mercy  for  God  or  man,  for  church  or  for 
sanctuary ;  they  were  cruel,  ferocious,  plundering, 
hard-hearted,  wonderful  Dannarbrians,  selling  and  hir- 
ing themselves  for  gold  and  silver,  and  other  treasure  as 
well." 

Gormflaith  was  evidently  one  of  the  most  efficient 
agents  on  the  occasion,  for  we  find  wonderful  accounts 
of  her  zeal  and  efforts  in  collecting  forces.  "  Other 
treasure  "  may  possibly  be  referred  to  that  lady's  hand, 
of  which  she  appears  to  have  been  very  liberal  on  all 
occasions.  She  despatched  her  son,  Sitric,  to  Siguard, 
earl  of  the  Orkneys,  who  promised  his  assistance,  but 
he  required  the  hand  of  Gormflaith  as  payment  for  his 
services,  and  that  he  should  be  made  king  of  Ireland. 
Sitric  gave  the  required  promise,  and  found,  on  his 
return  to  Dublin,  that  it  met  with  his  mother's  entire 
approbation.  She  then  despatched  him  to  the  Isle  of 
Man,  where  there  were  two  vikings,  who  had  thirty 


PREPARATIONS  FOB  THE  BATTLE  OF  CLONTARF.  131 


ships,  and  she  desired  him  to  obtain  their  co-operation 
at  any  price.  They  were  the  brothers  Ospak  and  Bro- 
dir.  The  latter  demanded  the  same  conditions  as  the 
earl  Siguard,  which  were  promised  quite  as  readily  by 
Sitric,  only  he  charged  the  viking  to  keep  the  agree- 
ment secret,  and,  above  all,  not  to  mention  it  to  Siguard. 

Brodir,1  according  to  the  Saga,  was  an  apostate 
Christian,  who  had  thrown  off  his  faith,  and  become 
God's  dastard.  He  was  both  tall  and  strong,  and  his 
long  black  hair,  which  he  wore  tucked  under  his  belt, 
perhaps  gained  him  the  reputation  of  being  a  magician. 

The  viking  Ospak,  however,  refused  to  fight  against 
the  good  king  Brian,  whom  he  found  at  Kincora,  where 
he  made  profession  of  Christianity  and  was  baptized. 
The  description  of  Brodir  is  taken  from  the  Saga,  the 
man  being  especially  noteworthy  as  the  slayer  of  Brian 
after  the  battle  of  Clontarf. 

The  author  of  the  Wars  of  the  Gael  gives  a  formida- 
ble list  of  the  other  auxiliaries  who  were  invited  by  the 
Danes  of  Dublin,  and  the  Annals  of  Loch  Ce  also  give 
an  account  of  the  fleet  which  they  assembled  and  its 
chosen  leader.  Maelmurra  was  too  near  the  restless 
and  revengeful  Gormflaith  to  remain  inactive,  even  had 
he  been  so  inclined.  He  had  mustered  a  formidable 
force  within  the  city  of  Dublin,  which  he  divided  into 
three  battalions.  The  Leinster  men  all  followed  his 
standard,  and  he  was  also  joined  by  the  Wexford  men. 

Meanwhile,  Brian  had  been  scarcely  less  successful, 
and  probably  not  less  active.  He  now  marched  towards 
Dublin,  "with  all  that  obeyed  him  of  the  men  of 
Ireland. "  These  were  the  provincial  troops  of  Mun- 
ster  and  Connaught,  and  the  men  of  Meath.  His  march 
is  thus  described  in  the  Wars  of  the  Gael:  — "Brian 
looked  out  behind  him,  and  beheld  the  battle  phalanx 
—  compact,  huge,  disciplined,  moving  in  silence, 
mutely,  bravely,  haughtily,  unitedly,  with  one  mind, 
traversing  the  plain  towards  them  ;  three  score  and  ten 
banners  over  them  —  of  red,  and  of  yellow,  and  of 
green,  and  of  all  kinds  of  colors. ;; 

1  It  has  been  suggested  that  this  was  not  his  real  name.  He  was 
Ospak's  brother,  and  Brodir  may  have  been  mistaken  for  a  proper 
name.  There  was  a  Danish  viking  named  Gutring,  who  was  an 
apostate  deacon,  and  who  may  have  been  the  Brodir  of  Irish  his- 
tory 


134 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


with  the  crucifix  in  one  hand,  and  a  sword  in  the  other. 
He  reminded  them  of  all  they  had  suffered  from  their 
enemies,  of  their  tyranny,  their  sacrilege,  their  innu- 
merable perfidies  ;  and  then,  holding  the  crucifix  aloft, 
he  exclaimed,  "  The  great  God  has  at  length  looked 
down  upon  our  sufferings,  and  endued  you  with  the 
power  and  the  courage  this  day  to  destroy  forever  the 
tyranny  of  the  Danes,  and  thus  to  punish  them  for  their 
innumerable  crimes  and  sacrileges  by  the  avenging 
power  of  the  sword.  Was  it  not  on  this  day  that  Christ 
Himself  suffered  death  for  you  ?  " 

According  to  the  account  in  the  Njal  Saga,  "  Brian 
would  not  fight  on  a  fast  day ;  and  so  a  shield  ring  (a 
ring  of  iron  holding  their  shields  locked  together)  was 
thrown  around  him,  and  his  host  was  drawn  away  in 
front  of  it.;;  According  to  the  Irish  Annals,  he  retired 
to  his  tent  to  pray,  being  persuaded  by  his  people  not 
to  engage  in  the  combat,  on  account  of  his  age  and 
infirmities. 

Prodigies  of  valor  were  performed  on  both  sides, 
each  party  being  fully  aware  that  the  result  of  the  en- 
gagement would  probably  decide  their  future  fate  irrev- 
ocably.'  Murrough,  Brian's  eldest  son,  is  said  to  have 
fought  with  two  swords,  one  in  each  hand.  Even  the 
Danish  historians  admit  that  he  fought  his  way  to  their 
standard,  and  cut  down  two  successive  bearers  of  it. 

The  mailed  armor  of  the  Danes  seems  to  have  been  a 
source  of  no  little  dread  to  their  opponents.  But  the 
Irish  battle-axe  might  well  have  set  even  more  secure 
protection  at  defiance.  It  was  wielded  with  such  skill 
and  force  that  frequently  a  limb  was  lopped  off  with  a 
single  blow,  despite  the  mail  in  which  it  was  encased  ; 
while  the  short  lances,  darts,  and  slinging-stones  proved 
a  speedy  means  of  decapitating  or  stunning  a  fallen 
enemy. 

The  Dalcassians  surpassed  themselves  in  feats  of 
arms.  They  hastened  from  time  to  time  to  refresh 
their  thirst  and  cool  their  hands  in  a  neighboring  brook  ; 
but  the  Danes  soon  filled  it  up,  and  deprived  them  of 
this  resource.  It  was  a  conflict  of  heroes  —  a  hand-to- 
hand  fight.  Bravery  was  not  wanting  on  either  side, 
and  for  a  time  the  result  seemed  doubtful.  Towards 
the  afternoon,  as  many  of  the  Danish  leaders  were  cut 


THE  BATTLE  OF  CLONTARF. 


135 


down,  their  followers  began  to  give  way,  and  the  Irish 
forces  prepared  for  a  final  effort.  At  this  moment, 
the  Norwegian  prince,  Anrud,  encountered  Murrough, 
whose  arms  were  paralyzed  from  fatigue  ;  he  had  still 
physical  strength  enough  to  seize  his  enemy,  fling  him 
on  the  ground,  and  plunge  his  sword  into  the  body  of 
his  prostrate  foe.  But  even  as  he  inflicted  the  death- 
wound,  he  received  a  mortal  blow  from  the  dagger  of 
the  Dane,  and  the  two  chiefs  fell  together. 

In  such  a  battle  as  this,  no  individual  incident,  how- 
ever important  in  itself,  could  have  much  effect.  The 
northmen  and  their  allies  were  flying  hard  and  fast,  the 
one  towards  their  ships,  the  others  towards  the  city.  But 
as  they  fled  across  the  Tolka,  they  forgot  that  it  was 
now  swollen  with  the  incoming  tide,  and  thousands 
perished  by  water  who  had  escaped  the  sword.  The 
body  of  Brian's  grandson,  the  boy  Turlough,  was  found 
in  the  river  after  the  battle,  with  his  hands  entangled  in 
the  hair  of  two  Danish  warriors,  whom  he  had  held 
down  until  they  were  drowned.  Sitric  and  his  wife 
had  watched  the  combat  from  the  battlements  of  Dub- 
lin. It  looked  like  a  multitude  of  reapers  cutting  a 
field  of  oats ;  and  the  Dane  attributed  the  slaughter  to 
the  valor  of  his  people.  "  Well  do  the  foreigners  reap 
the  field, "  he  exclaimed  to  his  wife,  who,  it  will  be 
remembered,  was  Brian's  daughter  ;  "  many  a  sheaf  do 
they  cut  from  them."  But  she  replied,  "  The  result 
will  be  seen  at  the  end  of  the  day."  And  so  it  was. 
In  a  very  brief  space,  the  flight  of  the  Danes  was  undeni- 
able, and  Brian's  daughter,  whose  interest  seems  to  have 
been  wholly  with  her  father's  followers,  called  her  hus- 
band's attention  to  it,  saying,  "  It  seems  to  me  that  the 
foreigners  have  gained  their  patrimony."  Her  husband 
inquired  roughly  what  she  meant.  She  replied,  "  Are 
they  not  rushing  into  the  sea,  which  is  their  natural 
inheritance  ?  "  Sitric,  maddened  beyond  control,  gave 
her  a  blow  which  knocked  out  one  of  her  teeth. 

Meanwhile,  the  old  king  was  praying  in  his  tent. 
When  the  forces  met,  he  began  his  devotions,  and  said 
to  his  attendant :  "  Watch  thou  the  battle  and  the  com- 
bats, whilst  I  say  the  psalms."  After  he  had  recited 
fifty  psalms,  fifty  collects,  and  fifty  paternosters,  he 
desired  the  man  to  look  out  and  inform  him  how  the 
battle  went,  and  the  position  of  Murrough's  standard. 


136 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


He  replied  that  the  strife  was  close  and  vigorous,  and 
the  noise  was  as  if  seven  battalions  were  cutting'  down 
To  mar's  wood  ;  but  the  standard  was  safe.  Brian  then 
said  fifty  more  psalms  and  repeated  his  inquiry.  The 
attendant  replied  that  all  was  in  confusion,  but  that 
Murrough's  standard  still  stood  erect,  and  moved  west- 
ward towards  Dublin.  "  As  long  as  the  standard 
remains  erect/7  replied  Brian,  "  it  shall  go  well  with 
the  men  of  Erin."  Then  he  betook  himself  to  his  pray- 
ers again,  saying  for  the  third  time  fifty  psalms  and 
collects ;  and  this  concluded,  he  again  asked  intelli- 
gence of  the  field.  His  attendant  replied:  "They 
appear  as  if  Tomar's  wood  was  on  fire,  and  its  brush- 
wood all  burned  down  ;  "  meaning  that  the  private  sol- 
diers of  both  armies  were  nearly  all  slain,  and  only 
a  few  of  the  chiefs  had  escaped  ;  adding  the  most 
grievous  intelligence  of  all,  that  Murrough's  standard 
had  fallen.  "Alas  ! ,;  replied  Brian,  "Erin  has  fallen 
with  it :  why  should  I  survive  such  losses,  even  should 
I  attain  the  sovereignty  of  the  world  ?  "  His  attend- 
ant then  urged  him  to  fly,  but  Brian  replied  that  flight 
was  useless,  for  he  had  been  warned  of  his  fate  by 
Aibinn  (the  banshee  of  his  family),  and  that  he  knew 
his^eath  was  at  hand.  He  then  gave  directions  about 
his  will  and  his  funeral,  leaving  two  hundred  and  forty 
cows  to  the  "successor  of  Patrick."  Even  at  this 
moment  the  danger  was  impending.  A  party  of  Danes 
approached,  headed  by  Brodir.  The  king  sprang  up 
from  the  cushion  where  he  had  been  kneeling,  and 
unsheathed  his  sword.  At  first,  Brodir  did  not  know 
him,  and  thought  he  was  a  priest  from  finding  him  at 
prayer ;  but  one  of  his  followers  informed  him  that  it 
was  the  monarch  of  Ireland.  In  a  moment  the  fierce 
Dane  had  opened  his  head  with  his  battle-axe.  It  is 
said  that  Brian  had  time  to  inflict  a  wound  on  the  vik- 
ing ;  but  the  details  of  this  event  are  so  varied,  that  it 
is  impossible  to  decide  which  account  is  most  reliable. 
The  Saga  states  that  Brodir  knew  Brian,  and,  proud  of 
his  exploit,  held  up  the  monarch's  reeking  head,  ex- 
claiming, "  Let  it  be  told  from  man  to  man  that  Brodir 
felled  Brian. "  All  accounts  agree  in  stating  that  the 
viking  was  slain  immediately,  if  not  cruelly,  by  Brian's 
guards,  who  thus  revenged  their  own  neglect  of  their 
master. 


DEATH  OF  BRIAN  BORU. 


137 


The  Annals  state  that  both  Brian  and  his  son,  Mur- 
rough,  lived  to  receive  the  rites  of  the  Church,  and  that 
their  remains  were  conveyed  by  the  monks  to  Swords, 
and  from  thence,  through  Duleek  and  Louth,  to  Armagh, 
by  archbishop  Maelmuire,  the  "  successor  of  St.  Pat- 
rick." Their  obsequies  were  celebrated  with  great 
splendor,  for  twelve  da}^s  and  nights,  by  the  clergy, 
after  which  the  body  of  Brian  was  deposited  in  a  sto'ne 
coffin,  on  the  north  side  of  the  high  altar,  in  the  cathe- 
dral. Murrough  was  buried  on  the  south  side.  Tur- 
lough  was  interred  in  the  old  churchyard  of  Kilmain- 
ham,  where  the  shaft  of  an  ancient  cross  still  marks  the 
site. 

After  the  battle  the  Munster  clans  assembled  their 
surviving  chieftains  and  men,  and  encamped  on  the 
green  of  Dublin,  waiting  the  arrival  of  Donough,  who 
had  been  sent  to  plunder  Leinster.  He  returned  on  the 
evening  of  Easter  Sunday  with  a  considerable  cattle 
prey,  which  were  immediately  devoted  to  the  use  of  the 
men.  Sitric  sent  to  demand  a  share,  but,  although  his 
request  was  refused,  he  did  not  carry  out  his  threat  of 
attacking  the  camp. 

On  Easter  Monday  the  survivors  were  employed  in 
burying  the  dead  and  attending  to  the  wounded.  The 
remains  of  more  than  thirty  chieftains  were  borne  off 
to  their  respective  territorial  churches  for  interment. 
But  even  on  that  very  night  dissension  arose  in  the 
camp.  The  chieftains  of  Desmond,  seeing  the  broken 
condition  of  the  Dalcassian  force,  renewed  their  claim 
to  the  alternate  succession.  When  they  had  reached 
Rath  Maisten  (Mullaghmast,  near  A  thy)  they  claimed 
the  sovereignty  of  Munster,  by  demanding  hostages. 
A  battle  ensued,  in  which  even  the  wounded  Dalcas- 
sians  joined.  Their  leader  desired  them  to  be  placed  in 
the  fort  of  Maisten  ;  but  they  insisted  on  being  fastened 
to  stakes  firmly  planted  in  the  ground  to  support  them, 
and  stuffing  their  wounds  with  moss,  they  awaited  the 
charge  of  the  enemy.  The  men  of  Ossory,  intimidated 
by  their  bravery,  feared  to  give  battle.  But  many  of 
the  wounded  men  perished  from  exhaustion  —  a  hundred 
and  fifty  swooned  away,  and  never  recovered  conscious- 
ness again.  The  majority  were  buried  where  they  stood  ; 
a  few  of  the  more  noble  were  carried  to  their  ancestral 
resting-places. 


138 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


CHAPTER  X. 

EVENTS  PRECEDING  THE  NORMAN  INVASION. 

A.  D.  1014  TOA.D.  1168. 

Con  temporary  Events  :  —  The  Norman  Conquest  of  England  — -  Elec- 
tion of  Hildebrand  as  Pope  Gregory  VII.  —  The  First  and  Second 
Crusades  —  Completion  of  the  Doomsday  Book — Philip  the  Fair, 
King  of  France  —  Stephen  and  Henry  II.,  Kings  of  England  — 
Louis  VII.  of  France— Remarkable  Ecclesiastics:  St.  Malachy 
and  St.  Bernard  of  Clairveaux. 

Malachy  has  been  credited  by  some  authors  with 
having  been  secretly  in  league  with  the  Danes.  It  is 
probable  that  truth  lies  between  the  statements  of  his 
partisans  and  his  enemies.  While  he  hoped  to  retain 
his  position  as  ard-aigh  by  courting  their  favor,  he 
only  acted  as  every  other  Irish  prince  would  have  done. 
When  he  was  obliged  to  resign  he  did  so  with  a  fair 
grace,  and  assisted  his  rival  against  the  common  enemy. 

Upon  the  death  of  Brian  the  troops  under  his  com- 
mand dispersed,  and  each  clan  returned  to  its  own  terri- 
tory. But  Malachy  was  tacitly  recognized  monarch,  and 
replaced  without  opposition  on  the  throne.  Indeed, 
one  of  the  principal  annalists  of  the  period  includes 
the  twelve  years  during  which  Brian  reigned  in  the 
term  alloted  to  Malachy.  But  the  events  of  the  last 
few  years  had  made  most  important  changes  in  the 
government  of  the  country.  The  success  which  at- 
tended Brian's  usurpation,  and  his  reputation,  made  an 
important  precedent  for  arbitrary  changes.  The  old 
rule  which  required  that  the  ard-righ  should  be  elected 
exclusively  from  the  descendants  of  Nial  of  the  Nine 
Hostages  was  hotly  disputed,  although  it  could  claim 
a  prescriptive  right  of  five  centuries.  The  provincial 
kings  all  claimed  a  share  in  the  honor,  Brian's  assump- 
tion being  their  precedent,  and  his  success  their  en- 
couragement. During  the  century  which  preceded  the 
Norman  invasion  of  Ireland,  there  was  a  continual  strug- 


DOMESTIC  FEUDS. 


139 


gle  for  ascendency  between  the  Leinster  chieftains  and 
the  O'Neils,  O'Connors,  and  O'Brians. 

In  the  following  year,  1015,  Malachy  made  a  vigor- 
ous and  successful  effort  to  complete  the  work  of  sub- 
jugating the  Danes,  or  at  least  of  rendering  their  power 
innocuous  for  the  future.  Assisted  by  the  northern 
O'Neils,  he  led  an  army  to  Dublin,  where  he  besieged 
the  Danish  fortress  and  all  the  houses  outside.  He 
then  invaded  Wexford,  plundering  the  whole  country, 
and  carried  off  many  thousand  captives.  The  power  of 
the  Norsemen  was  thus  entirely  subdued  ;  they  contin- 
ued to  hold  the  great  seaports,  where,  indeed,  they 
were  almost  naturalized,  but  the  idea  of  a  complete 
conquest  of  Ireland  was  now  finally  abandoned.  Bish- 
oprics were  founded  soon  after  in  the  Danish  towns  of 
Dublin,  Waterford,  and  Limerick,  at  the  request  of  the 
Danes  themselves,  and  from  this  period  they  appear  to 
have  renounced  paganisnventirely. 

The  Annals  of  Clonmacnois  state  that  Malachy  was 
the  last  king,  of  Ireland  of  Irish  blood,  that  held  the 
crown  ;  but  that  there  were  seven  kings  after,  without 
crowns,  before  the  coming  of  the  English.  Malachy 
died  in  Meath,  a.  d.  1022,  in  the  seventy-third  year  of 
his  age.  A  month  before  his  death  he  gained  an  im- 
portant victory  over  the  Danes  at  Athbry.  An  interreg- 
num of  twenty  years  followed,  during  which  the  coun- 
try was  governed  by  two  wise  men,  Cuan  O'Lochlann, 
a  poet,  and  Corcran  Cleirach,  an  anchoret. 

After  the  death  of  Brian  Boru,  his  son  Donough  ob- 
tained the  undisputed  sovereignty  of  Munster.  He 
married  an  English  princess,  Driella,  the  daughter  of 
earl  Godwin,  and  sister  of  Harold,  afterwards  king  of 
England.  During  the  rebellion  of  Godwin  and  his  sons 
against  Edward  the  Confessor,  Harold  was  obliged  to 
take  refuge  in  Ireland,  and  remained  there  "all  the 
winter  on  the  king's  security/' 

Donough  had  recourse  to  treachery  to  establish  him- 
self more  firmly  on  his  throne,  and  was  the  instigator  of 
the  death  of  his  brother  Teigue,  who  was  treacherously 
slain  at  his  suggestion  by  the  people  of  Ely  0' Carroll, 
a.  d.  1023.  After  the  death  of  his  brother  Teigue,  he 
marched  northwards,  and  took  hostages  from  Meath, 
Bregin,  Ossory,  and  Leinster,  as  a  step  towards  assert- 


140 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


ing  his  claim  to  the  sovereignty  of  all  Ireland  ;  but  he 
had  a  formidable  opponent  in  Dermod  Mac  Mael-na-mbo, 
king*  of  Leinster.  Strange  to  say,  though  he  had  the 
guilt  of  fratricide  on  his  conscience,  he  assembled  the 
clergy  and  chieftains  of  Munster  at  Killaloe,  in  the  year 
1050,  to  pass  laws  for  the  protection  of  life  and  prop- 
erty,—  a  famine  which  occurred  at  this  time  making 
such  precautions  of  the  first  necessity.  In  1063  his 
nephew  Turlough  avenged  the  death  of  Teigue  in  a 
battle,  wherein  Donough  was  defeated.  After  his 
reverse  he  went  on  a  pilgrimage  to  Rome,  where  he 
died  in  the  following  year,  after  doing  penance  for  his 
brother's  murder.  The  Annals  say  that  "  he  died  under 
the  victory  of  penance,  in  the  monastery  of  Stephen  the 
Martyr."  Dermod  Mac  Mael-na-mbo  was  killed  in 
battle  by  the  king  of  Meath,  a.  d.  1072,  and  Turlough 
O'Brien,  consequently,  was  regarded  as  his  successor 
to  the  monarchy  of  Ireland.  Turlough,  as  usual,  com- 
menced by  taking  hostages,  but  he  found  serious  oppo- 
sition from  the  northern  Hy-Nials.  His  principal  op- 
ponents were  the  MacLoughlins  of  Aileach,  and  the 
O'Melaghlins  of  Meath.  In  1079  O'Brien  invaded  the 
territory  of  Roderic  O'Connor,  king  of  Connaught, 
expelled  him  from  his  kingdom,  and  plundered  it  as  far 
as  Croagh  Patrick.  Next  year  he  led  an  army  to  Dub- 
lin, and  received  the  submission  of  the  men  of  Meath, 
appointing  his  son  Murtough  lord  of  the  Danes  of  Dub- 
lin. The  Annals  of  the  Four  Masters  give  a  curious 
account  of  O'Brien's  death.  They  say  that  the  head  of 
Connor  O'Melaghlin,  king  of  Meath,  was  taken  from  the 
church  of  Clonrnacnois  and  brought  to  Thomond  by  his 
order.  When  the  king  took  the  head  in  his  hand  a 
mouse  ran  out  of  it,  and  the  shock  was  so  great  that 
"he  fell  ill  of  a  sore  disease  by  the  miracles  (interven- 
tion) of  St.  Ciaran."  This  happened  on  the  night  of 
Good  Friday.  The  day  of  the  resurrection  (Easter  Sun- 
day) the  head  was  restored,  with  two  rings  of  gold  as 
a  peace  offering.  But  Turlough  never  recovered  from 
the  effects  of  his  fright,  and  lingered  on  in  bad  health 
until  the  year  1086,  when  he  died.  He  is  called  the 
"modest  Turlough"  in  the  Annals,  for  what  special 
reason  does  not  appear.  It  is  also  recorded,  that  he 
performed  "  intense  penance  for  his  sins,"  —  a  grace 


DESTRUCTION  OF  THE  GRIANAN  AILEACH.  141 


which  the  kings  and  princes  of  Ireland  seem  often  to 
have  needed,  and,  if  we  may  believe  the  Annals,  always 
to  have  obtained. 

A  period  of  anarchy  ensued,  during  which  several 
princes  contended  for  royal  honors.  This  compliment 
was  finally  awarded  to  O'Loughlin,  king  of  Aileach,  and 
a  temporary  peace  ensued.  Its  continuance  was  brief. 
In  1095  there  was  a  pestilence  all  over  Europe,  "  and 
some  say  that  the  fourth  part  of  the  men  of  Ireland  died 
of  the  malady."  A  long  list  is  given  of  its  victims,  lay 
and  ecclesiastical.  Several  severe  winters  are  recorded 
as  having  preceded  this  fatal  event ;  probably  they 
were  its  remote  cause.  In  the  year  1096,  the  festival 
of  St.  John  Baptist  fell  on  Friday.  This  event  caused 
general  consternation,  in  consequence  of  some  old 
prophecy.  A  synod  of  the  clergy  of  Ireland,  with  the 
successor  of  St.  Patrick1  at  their  head,  enjoined  a 
general  abstinence  from  Wednesday  to  Sunday  every 
month,  with  other  penitential  observances;  and  "the 
men  of  Ireland  were  saved  for  that  time  from  the  fire 
of  vengeance." 

But  the  most  important  event  of  the  period  was  the 
contention  between  the  northern  and  southern  Hy- 
Nials.  Murtough  was  planning,  with  great  military 
ability,  to  obtain  the  supreme  rule.  The  archbishop 
of  Armagh  and  the  clergy  strove  twice  to  avert  hostili- 
ties, but  their  interference  was  almost  ineffectual.  A 
year's  peace  was  all  they  could  obtain.  In  the  year 
1100,  Murtough  brought  a  Danish  fleet  against  the 
northerns,  but  they  were  cut  off  by  O'Loughlin,  by 
killing  or  drowning.  He  also  assembled  an  army  at 
Assaroe,  near  Ballyshannon,  with  the  choice  part  of 
the  men  of  Ireland,  but  the  Cinel-Connaill  defended 
their  country  bravely,  and  compelled  him  to  retire 
"without  booty,  without  hostages,  without  pledges." 
In  1101,  when  the  twelvemonths'  truce  obtained  by  the 
clergy  had  expired,  Murtougli  collected  a  powerful 
army,  and  devastated  the  north,  without  opposition. 
He  demolished  the  palace  of  the  Hy-Nials,  called  the 
Grianan  of  Aileach,  near  Londonderry.  This  was  an 
act  of  revenge  for  a  similar  raid,  committed  a  few  years 

1  This  expression  occurs  frequently  in  the  Annals,  from  the  earli- 
est period,  whenever  the  primate  of  Ireland  is  mentioned. 


142 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


before,  on  tlie  stronghold  of  the  O'Briens,  at  Kincora, 
by  O'Loughlin.  So  determined  was  he  on  devastation, 
that  he  commanded  a  stone  to  be  carried  away  from  the 
building  in  each  of  the  sacks  which  had  contained  pro- 
visions for  the  army.  He  then  took  hostages  of  Ulidia, 
and  returned  to  the  south,  having  completed  the  cir- 
cuit of  Ireland  in  six  weeks.  The  expedition  was 
called  "  the  circuitous  hosting."  His  rather  original 
method  of  razing  a  palace  is  commemorated  in  the  fol- 
lowing quatrain  :  — 

I  never  heard  of  the  billeting  of  grit  stones, 
Though  I  heard  (sic J  of  the  billeting  of  companies, 
Until  the  stones  of  Aileach  were  billeted 
On  the  horses  of  the  king  of  the  west. 

Murtough  appears  to  have  been  a  not  unusual  com- 
pound of  piety  and  profanity.  We  read  in  one  place 
of  his  reckless  exploits  in  burning  churches  and  dese- 
crating shrines,  and  in  others  of  his  liberal  endowments 
of  the  same. 

The  Danes  had  now  settled  quietly  in  the  mercantile 
towns  which  they  had  mainly  contributed  to  form,  and 
expended  all  their  energies  on  commerce  instead  of 
war ;  but  the  new  generation  of  Northmen,  who  had 
not  yet  visited  Ireland,  could  not  so  easily  relinquish 
the  old  project  of  conquering  it.  About  the  year  1101, 
Magnus  planned  an  expedition  to  effect  this  purpose. 
He  arrived  in  Dublin  the  following  year;  a  "hosting 
of  the  men  of  Ireland  came  to  oppose  him  ;  "  but  they 
made  peace  with  him  for  one  year,  and  Murtough  gave 
his  daughter  in  marriage  to  his  son  Sigurd  "  with  many 
jewels  and  gifts."  The  year  1103  was  distinguished 
for  sanguinary  conflicts.  Murtagh  Drun  was  killed  on 
a  predatory  excursion  in  Moycova.  Raynal  O'Hagan, 
lawgiver  of  Felach  Og,  was  slain  by  the  men  of  Moyitha. 
There  was  a  "  great  war  1 '  between  the  Cinel-Eoghain 
and  the  Ulidians ;  and%  Murtough  O'Brien,  with  the 
men  of  Munster,  Leinster,  and  Ossory,  the  chiefs  of 
Connaught,  and  the  men  of  Meath  and  their  kings,  pro- 
ceeded to  Moycova,  now  Donaghmore,  co.  Down,  to 
relieve  the  Ulidians.  When  the  men  of  Munster  "  were 
wearied/7  Murtough  proceeded  to  Armagh,  and  left 
eight  ounces  of  gold  upon  the  altar,  and  promised  eight- 
score  cows.    The  northern  Hy-Nials  then  attacked  the 


DEATH  OF  MURTOUGH  0?BRIEN. 


143 


camp  of  the  Leinster  men,  and  a  spirited  battle  was 
fought.  The  Cinel-Eoghain  and  Cinel-Connaill  returned 
victoriously  and  triumphantly  to  their  forts,  with  valu- 
able jewels  and  much  wealth,  together  with  the  royal 
tent,  the  standard,  and  jewels. 

Magnus,  king  of  Lochlann  and  the  Isles,  was  slain  by 
the  Ulidians  this  year. 

When  Harold  returned  to  England,  his  brother-in-law, 
Donough,  lent  him  nine  ships ;  and  we  find  the  Irish 
affording  assistance  in  several  other  feuds  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxons  of  this  period.  A  deputation  of  the  nobles 
of  Man  and  other  islands  visited  Dublin,  and  waited 
on  Murtough  O'Brien  to  solicit  a  king.  He  sent  his 
nephew,  Donnell ;  but  he  was  soon  expelled  on  ac- 
count of  his  tyranny.  Another  Donnell  O'Brien,  his 
cousin,  was,  at  the  same  time,  lord  of  the  Danes  in  Dublin. 
In  1114  Murtough  O'Brien  was  obliged  to  resign  the 
crown,  in  consequence  of  ill-health ;  the  Annals  say 
that  he  became  a  living  skeleton.  His  brother,  Der- 
mod,  took  advantage  of  this  circumstance  to  declare 
himself  king  of  Munster.  This  obliged  Murtough  to 
resume  the  reins  of  government,  and  put  himself  at  the 
head  of  his  army.  He  succeeded  in  making  Dermod 
prisoner,  but  eventually  he  was  obliged  to  resign  the 
kingdom  to  him,  and  retired  into  the  monastery  of  Lis- 
more,  where  he  died  in  1119.  The  Annals  call  him  the 
prop  of  the  glory  and  magnificence  of  the  western 
world.  In  the  same  year  Nial  Mac  Lochlann,  royal 
heir  of  Aileach  and  of  Ireland,  fell  by  the  Cinel-Moain, 
in  the  twenty-eighth  year  of  his  age.  He  was  the 
"  paragon  of  Ireland,  for  personal  form,  sense,  hospital- 
ity, and  learning. ?;  The  chief  Ollav  of  Ireland  was 
killed  by  the  men  of  Lug  and  Tooragh,  with  his  wife, 
"two  very  good  sons,"  and  five-and- thirty  persons  in 
one  house,  on  the  Saturday  before  Little  Easter.  The 
cause  of  the  outrage  is  not  mentioned.  The  Annals  of 
the  Four  Masters  and  the  Annals  of  Ulster  record  the 
same  event,  and  mention  that  he  was  distinguished  for 
charity,  hospitality,  and  universal  benevolence. 

Donnell  O'Loughlin  died  in  1121,  in  the  monastery  of 
St.  Columba,  at  Deny.  He  is  styled  king  of  Ireland, 
although  the  power  of  his  southern  rival  preponderated 
during  the  greater  part  of  his  reign.    In  1118  Rory 


144 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


O'Connor  died  in  the  monastery  of  Clonmacnois.  He 
bad  been  blinded  some  years  previously  by  the  O'Fla- 
herties.  This  cruel  custom  was  sometimes  practised  to 
prevent  the  succession  of  an  obnoxious  person,  as  free- 
dom from  every  blemish  was  a  sine  qua  non  in  Ireland 
for  a  candidate  to  royal  honors.  Teigue  MacCarthy, 
king  of  Desmond,  died,  "  after  penance,"  at  Cashel,  a.  d. 
1124.  From  the  time  of  Murtough  O'Brien's  illness, 
Turlough  O'Connor,  son  of  the  prince  who  had  been 
blinded,  comes  prominently  forward  in  Irish  history. 
His  object  was  to  exalt  the  Eoghanists  or  Desmonian 
family,  who  hard  been  virtually  excluded  from  the  suc- 
cession since  the  time  of  Brian  Boru.  In  1116  he  plun- 
dered Thomond  as  far  as  Limerick.  In  1118  he  led  an 
army  as  far  as  Glanmire  (county  Cork),  and  divided 
Munster,  giving  Desmond  to  MacCarthy,  and  Thomond 
to  the  sons  of  Dermod  O'Brien.  He  then  marched  to 
Dublin,  and  took  hostages  from  the  Danes,  releasing 
Donnell,  son  of  the  king  of  Meath,  whom  they  had  in 
captivity.  The  following  year  he  sailed  down  the  Shan- 
non with  a  fleet,  and  destroyed  the  royal  palace  of 
Kincora,  hurling  its  stones  and  timber  beams  into  the 
river.  He  then  devoted  himself  to  wholesale  plunder- 
ing, and  expelled  his  late  ally  and  father-in-law  from 
Meath,  ravaging  the  country  from  Tralee  to  the  sanc- 
tuary lands  of  Lismore.  In  1126  he  bestowed  the  king- 
dom of  Dublin  upon  his  son  Cormac.  In  1127  he  drove 
Cormac  MacCarthy  from  his  kingdom,  and  divided 
Munster  into  three  parts.  In  fact  there  was  such  a  storm 
of  war  throughout  the  whole  country,  that  St.  Celsus 
was  obliged  to  interfere.  He  spent  a  month  and  a  year 
trying  to  establish  peace,  and  promulgating  rules  and 
good  customs  in  every  district,  among  the  laity  and 
clergy.  His  efforts  to  teach  "  good  rules  and  manners  " 
seem  to  have  been  scarcely  effectual,  for  we  find  an 
immediate  entry  of  the  decapitation  of  Euaidhri,  after  he 
had  made  a"  treacherous  prey  "  in  Aictheara.  In  1128 
St.  Celsus  made  a  year's  peace  between  the  men  of 
Munster  and  Connaught.  In  1129  the  great  church  of 
Clonmacnois  was  robbed  of  some  of  its  greatest  treas- 
ures. Amongst  these  was  a  model  of  Solomon's  Tem- 
ple, presented  by  a  prince  of  Meath,  and  a  silver  chalice 
burnished  with  gold,  which  had  been  engraved  by  a 


DERMOT  MAC  MURROUGH. 


145 


sister  of  king1  Turlough  O'Connor  —  an  evidence  that 
the  ladies  of  Ireland  were  by  no  means  behind  the  age 
in  taste  and  refinement. 

After  the  death  of  Donnell  O'Loughlin,  Turlough  had 
full  scope  for  the  exercise  of  his  ambitious  projects  ;  but 
in  1131  he  found  serious  opposition  from  Connor  O'Brien, 
who  had  succeeded  his  father,  Dermod,  on  the  throne  of 
Munster.  Connor  now  carried  off  hostages  from  Lein- 
ster  and  Meath,  and  defeated  the  cavalry  of  Connaught. 
The  following  year  he  sent  a  fleet  to  the  western  coast 
of  Ireland.  Eventually,  Turlough  0' Connor  was  glad 
to  make  a  truce  with  his  opponents.  In  1134  the  con- 
secration of  a  church  at  Cashel  was  celebrated.  This 
is  still  known  as  Cormac's  Chapel,  and  was  long  sup- 
posed to  have  been  erected  by  the  more  ancient  monarch 
of  that  name.  But  the  good  king  was  soon  after  treach- 
erously slain  in  his  own  house,  by  Turlough  O'Connor 
and  the  two  sons  of  the  O'Connor  of  Kerry.  Turlough 
was  unquestionably  somewhat  Spartan  in  his  severities, 
if  not  Draconian  in  his  administration  of  justice.  In 
1136  he  put  out  the  eyes  of  his  own  son  Hugh,  and  in 
the  same  year  he  imprisoned  another  son  named  Rod- 
eric.  The  nature  of  their  offences  is  not  manifest ;  but 
Eoderic  was  liberated  through  the  interference  of  the 
clergy.  Some  years  after,  he  was  again  imprisoned  for 
violation  of  the  most  solemn  pledges  and  guarantees. 

The  history  of  Dermot  MacMurrough  is  one  of  special 
interest  and  importance,  being  so  directly  connected 
with  the  English  invasion.  This  prince  was  king  of 
Leinster,  and  signalized  himself  by  acts  of  treachery 
and  sacrilege  from  the  very  commencement  of  his  reign. 
In  the  year  1135  he  took  the  abbess  of  the  famous  mon- 
astery of  Kildare  from  her  cloisters  to  please  one  of  his 
followers.  The  people  of  the  town  came  to  the  rescue 
of  the  religious,  but  without  success,  for  a  hundred  and 
fifty  of  them  were  killed  by  Derrnot's  soldiers.  His 
next  exploit  was  a  barbarous  attack  on  some  of  his 
own  nobles  who  had  attempted  to  resist  his  tyrannies. 
He  killed  Donnell,  lord  of  Hy  Faclin,  and  Murtough 
O'Toole,  and  put  out  the  eyes  of  Muirkertach,  chief  of 
Wicklow,  and  seventeen  other  lords,  and  performed 
the  same  act  of  barbarity  on  many  persons  of  lesser 
rank. 

6 


146 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


All  the  petty  kings  and  princes  of  Ireland  were 
engaged  in  war  at  this  period,  either  with  each  other  or 
with  their  own  clans.  Conor  O'Brien  died  at  Killaloe 
in  1142,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  brother  Murtough, 
who  at  once  commenced  his  reign  by  a  war  with  Tur- 
lough  0' Conor  and  an  invasion  of  Leinster.  The  his- 
tory of  this  period  is,  indeed,  a  simple  chronicle  of  feuds 
between  the  native  princes,  and  the  most  impartial  his- 
torian would  find  it  difficult  to  say  which  of  the  bellig- 
erents was  the  least  guilty. 

In  1152  Meath  was  divided  by  the  ard-righ  O'Lough- 
lin  between  the  O'Melaghlins,  and  Tiernan  O'Rourke, 
lord  of  Breffny,  was  dispossessed  of  his  territory. 
About  the  same  time  his  wife,  Dervorgil,  was  carried 
off  by  Mac  Murrough,  king  of  Leinster.  There  is  some 
question  as  to  the  exact  date  of  her  abduction,  but 
there  is  no  doubt  that  it  was  the%immediate  cause  of  the 
English  invasion.  Dervorgil  was  encouraged  in  her 
flight  by  her  brother,  the  king  of  Meath.  She  took  the 
cattle  which  had  formed  her  dowry  with  her  ;  but  in 
the  following  year  she  was  compelled  to  return  to  her 
family  by  Turlough  0' Conor. 

Dermot  Mac  Murrough  was  generally  detested,  and 
is  said  to  have  treated  Dervorgil  very  harshly  before 
her  elopement.  On  the  death  of  O'Loughlin,  Roderic 
O'Conor  obtained  the  sovereign  power,  such  as  it  was. 
He  was  a  warm  ally  of  Dermot's  old  enemy,  O'Rourke, 
who,  as  he  had  anticipated,  formed  an  alliance  against 
him,  and,  with  the  aid  of  several  other  princes  and  chief- 
tains, obliged  him  to  fly  the  country. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  AFFAIRS. 


147 


CHAPTER  XI. 

RELIGION— LAWS— ARCHITECTURE— DRESS  AND  SO- 
CIAL CUSTOMS  OF  THE  EIGHTH,  NINTH,  TENTH 
AND  ELEVENTH  CENTURIES. 

The  Danes  having  plundered  and  destroyed  most  of 
the  Irish  monasteries,  a  great  falling  off  in  piety  and 
learning  is  the  principal  characteristic  of  this  period. 
Some  attempts,  however,  were  made  at  reform  during 
the  two  centuries  immediately  preceding  the  Norman 
invasion. 

Early  in  the  tenth  century  some  Irish  monks  settled 
at  Glastonbury,  where  they  devoted  themselves  to  the 
instruction  of  youth,  and  where  St.  Dunstan  became 
one  of  their  most  illustrious  pupils.  St.  Maccallin,  who 
founded  a  school  in  France  ;  and  Duncan,  who  gov- 
erned the  monastery  of  St.  Remigius  at  Rheims,  wrote 
books  which  are  still  preserved.  Marianus  Scotus, 
whose  chronicles  are  considered  the  most  perfect  com- 
positions of  their  times,  was  teaching  at  Cologne.  St. 
Fingen,  who  succeeded  St.  Cadroe  as  abbot  of  the  mon- 
astery of  St.  Felix  at  Metz,  was  invested  with  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  monastery  of  St.  Symphorian  in  that 
city.  It  was  then  ordered  by  the  bishop  that  none  but 
Irish  monks  should  be  received  into  his  house,  unless 
their  supply  failed.  In  975  the  monastery  of  St.  Mar- 
tin, near  Cologne,  was  made  over  to  the  Irish  monks 
in  perpetuity.  The  obituaries  of  several  saints  also 
occur  at  the  close  of  the  tenth  and  commencement  of 
the  eleventh  centuries.  Amongst  these  we  find  St. 
Duncheadh,  abbot  of  Clonmacnois,  who  is  said  to  have 
been  the  last  Irish  saint  who  raised  the  dead.  St. 
Aedh  (Hugh)  died  in  the  year  1004,  "  after  a  good  life, 
at  Ard-Macha,  with  great  honor  and  veneration."  And 
in  the  year  1018  we  have  the  mortuary  record  of  St. 


148 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


Gormgal,  of  Ardvilean,  the  remains  of  whose  humble 
oratory  and  Cloghan  cell  are  still  to  be  seen  on  that 
rocky  island,  amid  the  surges  of  the  Atlantic  off  the 
coast  of  Connemara. 

In  the  year  1111  a  synod  was  convened  at  Fidh  Aen- 
gussa,  or  Aengus  Grove,  near  the  Hill  of  Uisneach,  in 
Westmeath.  It  was  attended  by  fifty  bishops,  three 
hundred  priests,  and  three  thousand  religious.  Mur- 
tough  O'Brien  was  also  permitted  to  be  present,  and 
some  of  the  nobles  of  his  province.  The  object  of  the 
synod  was  to  institute  rules  of  life  and  manners  for 
the  clergy  and  people.  St.  Celsus,  the  archbishop  of 
Armagh,  and  Maelmuire  (the  servant  of  Mary),  arch- 
bishop of  Cashel,  were  present. 

Lanfranc,  the  great  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  had 
already  noticed  the  state  of  the  Irish  church.  He  was 
in  constant  communication  with  the  Danish  bishops, 
who  had  received  consecration  from  him  ;  and  their  ac- 
counts were  probably  true  in  the  main,  however  colored 
by  prejudice.  He  wrote  an  earnest  epistle  to  Turlough 
O'Brien,  whom  he  addresses  respectfully  as  king  of 
Ireland,  and  whose  virtues  as  a  Christian  prince  he 
highly  commends,  nis  principal  object  appears  to  have 
been  to  draw  the  king's  attention  to  an  abuse,  of  which 
the  Danes  had  informed  him, 'with  regard  to  the  sacra- 
ment of  matrimony.  This  subject  shall  be  noticed 
again.  Pope  Gregory  VII.  also  wrote  to  Turlough,  but 
principally  on  the  temporal  authority  of  the  Holy  See. 

The  synod  had  four  special  subjects  for  consideration  : 
(1)  First,  to  regulate  the  number  of  bishops  —  which 
had  been  unduly  multiplied  from  the  custom  of  creating 
chor-episcopi  or  rural  bishops.  It  was  now  decided 
that  there  should  be  but  twenty -four  dioceses  —  twelve 
for  the  northern  and  twelve  for  the  southern  half  af  Ire- 
land. Cashel  was  also  recognized  as  an  archiepiscopal 
see,  and  the  successor  of  St.  Jarlath  was  sometimes 
called  archbishop  of  Connaught.  The  custom  of  lay 
appropriations,  which  had  obtained  in  some  places,  was 
also  firmly  denounced.  This  was  an  intolerable  abuse. 
St.  Celsus,  the  archbishop  of  Armagh,  though  himself  a 
member  of  the  family  who  had  usurped  this  office,  made 
a  special  provision  in  his  will  that  he  should  be  suc- 
ceeded by  St.  Malachy.    This  saint  obtained  a  final 


ST.  MALACHY. 


149 


victory  over  the  sacrilegious  innovators,  but  not  with- 
out much  personal  suffering. 

The  (2)  second  abuse  which  was  now  noticed,  re- 
ferred to  the  sacrament  of  matrimony.  The  Irish  were 
accused  of  abandoning  their  lawful  wives  and  taking 
others,  of  marrying  within  the  degrees  of  consanguin- 
ity, and  it  was  said  that  in  Dublin  wives  were  eren 
exchanged.  Usher,  in  commenting  on  the  passage  in 
Lanfranc's  letter  which  refers  to  these  gross  abuses, 
observes  that  the  custom  of  discarding  wives  was  prev- 
alent among  the  Anglo-Saxons  and  in  Scotland.  The 
canons  of  St.  Patrick,  which  were  always  respected  by 
the  native  Irish,  forbade  such  practices  ;  and  the  synod, 
therefore,  had  only  to  call  on  the  people  to  observe  the 
laws  of  the  Church  more  strictly. 

Two  other  subjects,  (3)  one  regarding  the  consecra- 
tion of  bishops,  the  other  (4)  referring  to  the  ceremo- 
nies of  baptism,  were  merely  questions  of  ecclesiastical 
discipline,  and  as  such  were  easily  arranged  by  compe- 
tent authority.  St.  Anselm,  in  his  correspondence 
with  the  prelates  of  the  south  of  Ireland,  passes  a  high 
eulogium  on  their  zeal  and  piety,  while  he  deplores 
certain  relaxations  of  discipline,  which  they  were  as 
anxious  to  reform  as  he  could  desire. 

St.  Celsus  appointed  St.  Malachy  his  successor  in 
the  archiepiscopal  see  of  Armagh.  Malachy  had  been 
educated  by  the  abbot  Imar  O'Hagan,  who  presided 
over  the  great  schools  of  that  city ;  and  the  account 
given  of  his  early  training  sufficiently  manifests  the 
ability  of  his  gifted  instructor,  and  the  high  state  of 
intellectual  culture  which  existed  in  Ireland.  While 
still  young,  St.  Malachy  undertook  the  restoration  of 
the  famous  abbey  of  Bangor.  Here  he  erected  a  small 
oratory  of  wood,  and  joined  himself  to  a  few  devoted 
men  who  desired  the  perfection  of  a  religious  life.  He 
was  soon  after  elected  bishop  of  Connor.  With  the 
assistance  of  some  of  his  faithful  monks,  he  restored 
what  war  and  rapine  had  destroyed  ;  and  was  proceed- 
ing peacefully  and  successfully  in  his  noble  work,  when 
he  was  driven  from  his  diocese  by  a  hostile  prince.  He 
now  fled  to  Cormac  Mac  Carthy,  king  of  Desmond,  but 
he  was  not  permitted  to  remain  there  long.  After  he 
had  compelled  the  lay  intruders  to  leave  the  diocese 


150 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


of  Armagh  he  was  permitted  to  resign,  and  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Gelasius,  then  abbot  of  the  great  Columbian 
monastery  of  Derry. 

St.  Malachy  was  now  appointed  bishop  of  Down,  to 
which  his  old  see  of  Connor  was  united.  He  had  long 
a  desire  to  visit  Rome,  as  such  devotional  pilgrimages 
were  usual  with  the  Irish  from  the  earliest  period ;  and 
he  was  specially  anxious  to  obtain  a  formal  recog- 
nition of  the  archiepiscopal  sees  in  Ireland,  by  the 
granting  of  palliums.  On  his  way  to  the  Holy  City  he 
visited  St.  Bernard  at  Clairvaux,  and  thus  commenced 
and  cemented  the  friendship  which  forms  so  interesting 
a  feature  in  the  lives  ot  the  French  and  Irish  saints.  It 
is  probable  that  his  account  of  the  state  of  the  Irish 
Church  took  a  tinge  of  gloom  from  the  heavy  trials  he 
had  endured  in  his  efforts  to  remove  its  temporary 
abuses.  St.  Bernard's  ardent  and  impetuous  character, 
even  his  very  affectionateness,  would  lead  him  also  to 
look  darkly  on  the  picture  :  hence  the  somewhat  over- 
colored  accounts  he  has  given  of  its  state  at  that 
eventful  period.  St.  Malachy  returned  to  Ireland  after 
an  interview  with  the  reigning  pontiff,  Pope  Innocent 
II.  His  Holiness  had  received  him  with  open  arms, 
and  appointed  him  apostolical  legate ;  but  he  declined 
to  give  the  palliums,  until  they  were  formally  demanded 
by  the  Irish  prelates. 

In  virtue  of  his  legatine  power,  the  saint  assembled 
local  synods  in  several  places.  He  rebuilt  and  restored 
many  churches ;  and  in  1142  he  built  the  famous  Cis- 
tercian abbey  of  Mellifont,  near  Drogheda.  This  mon- 
astery was  liberally  endowed  by  O'Carroll,  king  of 
Oriel,  and  was  peopled  by  Irish  monks,  whom  St.  Mal- 
achy had  sent  to  Clairvaux,  to  be  trained  in  the  Bene- 
dictine rule  and  observances.  But  his  great  act  was 
the  convocation  of  the  synod  of  Inis  Padraig.  It  was 
held  in  the  year  1148.  St.  Malachy  presided  as  legate 
of  the  Holy  See  ;  fifteen  bishops,  two  hundred  priests, 
and  some  religious  were  present  at  the  deliberations, 
which  lasted  for  four  days.  The  members  of  the  synod 
were  unwilling  that  Malachy  should  leave  Ireland 
again  ;  but  Eugene  III.,  who  had  been  a  Cistercian 
monk,  was  visiting  Clairvaux,  and  it  was  hoped  that  he 
might  grant  the  favor  there.    The  pope  had  left  the 


ST.  LAURENCE  o'TOOLE. 


151 


abbey  before  the  arrival  of  the  saint,  who,  in  a  few  days 
after,  was  seized  with  mortal  sickness,  and  died  on  the 
2nd  of  November,  1148.  His  remains  were  interred  at 
Clairvaux.  His  feast  was  changed  from  the  2nd  of 
November,  All  Souls,  to  the  3rd,  by  "the  seniors/7 
that  he  might  be  the  more  easily  revered  and  honored. 

In  1151  cardinal  Paparo  arrived  in  Ireland  with  the 
palliums  which  had  been  solicited  by  St.  Malachy. 
The  insignia  of  dignity  were  conferred  the  following 
year,  at  the  council  of  Kells.  Tithes  were  then  intro- 
duced for  the  first  time  in  Ireland,  but  they  were  not 
enforced  until  after  the  English  invasion. 

In  1157  a  synod  was  held  in  the  abbey  of  Mellifont, 
attended  by  the  bishop  of  Lismore,  legate  of  the  Holy 
See,  the  primate,  and  seventeen  other  bishops.  Mur- 
tough  O'Loughlin,  the  monarch  of  Ireland,  and  several 
other  kings,  were  also  present.  The  principal  object  of 
this  meeting  was  the  consecration  of  the  abbey  church, 
and  the  excommunication  of  Donough  O'Melaghlin,  who 
had  become  the  common  pest  of  the  country.  He 
was,  as  might  be  expected,  the  particular  friend  and 
ally  of  Dermot  Mac  Murrough.  His  last  exploit  was 
the  murder  of  a  neighboring  chief,  despite  the  most  sol- 
emn pledges.  In  an  old  translation  of  the  Annals  of 
Ulster  he  is  termed,  with  more  force  than  elegance,  *'  a 
cursed  atheist."  After  his  excommunication,  his  brother 
Dermod  was  made  king  of  Meath  in  his  place. 

At  this  synod  several  rich  gifts  were  made  to  the  ab- 
bey. 0' Carroll,  prince  of  Oriel,  presented  sixty  ounces 
of  gold.  O'Loughlin  made,  a  grant  of  lands,  gave  one 
hundred  and  forty  cows,  and  sixty  ounces  of  gold. 

In  1162  St.  Laurence  O'Toole  was  chosen  to  succeed 
Greine,  or  Gregory,  the  Danish  archbishop  of  Dublin. 
He  belonged  to  one  of  the  most  noble  ancient  families 
of  Leinster.  His  father  was  chieftain  of  the  district  of 
Hy-Muirahy,  a  portion  of  the  present  county  Kildare. 
St.  Laurence  had  chosen  the  ecclesiastical  state  early 
in  life  ;  at  the  age  of  twenty -five  he  was  chosen  abbot 
of  St.  Kevin's  monastery,  at  Glendalough.  The  Dan- 
ish bishop  of  Dublin  had  been  consecrated  by  the  arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury,  but  the  saint  received  the  epis- 
copal office  from  the  successor  of  St.  Patrick.  A  synod 
was  held  at  Clane  the  year  of  his  consecration ;  it  was 


152 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


attended  by  twenty -six  prelates  and  many  other  eccle- 
siastics. The  college  of  Armagh  was  then  virtually 
raised  to  the  rank  of  a  university,  as  it  was  decreed 
that  no  one,  who  had  not  been  an  alumnus  of  Armagh, 
should  be  appointed  lector  or  professor  of  theology  in 
any  of  the  diocesan  schools  in  Ireland.' 

The  Brehon  laws  still  continued  in  force  ;  they  have 
been  described  already.  The  ceremony  of  inaugurating 
the  principal  chieftain  of  each  province  was  practised 
from  so  early  a  period  that  the  origin  of  the  custom  has 
never  been  clearly  ascertained.  If  its  origin  could  be 
traced,  it  would  probably  throw  considerable  light  upon 
the  subject  of  the  early  colonization  of  Ireland.  A  sim- 
ilar custom  is  said  to  have  existed  in  Carinthia.  The 
office  of  chieftain,  or  head  of  the  clan,  was  conferred 
electively  on  the  "best  and  worthiest  of  the  clan." 
Each  tribe  had  a  special  site  where,  from  time  imme- 
morial, the  ceremony  of  inauguration  was  performed.  A 
chair  of  rock,  rudely  placed  together,  showed  the  antiq- 
uity of  the  custom.  In  this  the  chieftain  was  enthroned, 
and  certain  men  of  the  tribe  had  the  exclusive  right 
of  performing  the  necessary  ceremonies ;  such  as  the 
placing  of  a  shoe  or  sandal  on  the  foot  of  the  chieftain, 
and  the  presentation  to  him  of  a  white  rod.  The  white 
rod  was  symbolical  of  the  chieftain's  power,  and  sup- 
posed to  indicate  the  facility  with  which  he  should  be 
able  to  govern  his  tribe.  The  placing  of  the  sandal  on 
his  foot  by  the  next  in  rank  to  him  was  indicative  of  the 
submission  of  the  people.  This  sandal  was  in  turn 
placed  on  the  foot  of  the  Ard-Righ,  a  chief  monarch, 
at  some  subsequent  period,  by  the  new  chieftain. 
Anciently  these  ceremonies  are  said  to  have  been 
superintended  by  the  Druids;  at  a  later  period  the 
priests  were  generally  present,  and  recited  litanies 
and  prayers.  It  will  be  remembered,  that  it  was 
customary  with  the  Jews  to  draw  off  or  put  on  a  shoe 
as  a  legal  act,  and  also  that  the  Judges  were  distin- 
guished by  the  use  of  white  wands.  The  custom  is 
unquestionably  of  eastern  origin.  The  celebrated  hill 
fort  of  Tullaghogue,  where  the  O'Neils  were  inaugu- 
rated, is  still  in  existence,  but  the  stone  chair  of  state, 
on  which  the  ceremony  was  performed,  was  destroyed 
by  Sir  Arthur  Chichester  in  1602. 


COINAGE,  TRADE,  AND  SOCIAL  CUSTOMS.  153 

There  was  probably  but  little  change  in  the  domestic 
architecture  of  the  native  Irish  up  to  this  period.  The 
Annals  make  frequent  mention  of  the  pits  and  crannoges 
as  the  ordinary  habitations  of  the  people.  The  Danes, 
however,  had  built  or  enlarged  several  of  the  seaport 
towns.  They  also  erected  towers  for  the  protection  of 
their  cities,  and  notably  that  called  Reginald's  Tower,  in 
"Waterford,  which  is  still  in  existence. 

Stone  churches  began  to  be  erected  at  the  beginning 
of  the  tenth  century,  and  the  use  of  lead  for  roofing  was 
also  introduced  ;  but  this  subject  will  be  treated  of 
more  fully  at  the  close  of  the  Norman  period.  The  art 
of  statuary  was  generally  practised,  but  the  Irish  did 
not  excel  in  this  department. 

It  has  been  disputed  whether  the  Irish  coined  money 
or  not  previous  to  the  Danish  invasion.  The  earliest 
Danish  coins  struck  in  Ireland,  as  far  as  we  at  present 
know,  are  those  of  Filric  III.,  a.  d.  989,  but  there  are 
coins  attributed  to  Donald  O'Neil  in  956,  and  others 
attributed  to  Ered,  king  of  Meath,  in  922.  The  pennies 
of  the  Irish  were  bracteate  pieces  of  seven  grains' 
weight,  and  the  name  penning  or  pinginn  applied  to 
them  appears  to  have  been  derived  from  the  Saxons, 
though  the  Celtic  coin  differed  in  weight  and  thickness 
from  the  Saxon  penning.  Cattle  were,  however,  the 
great  medium  of  barter,  and  occasionally  gold  rings*, 
which  were  also  used  as  bracelets.  Dress,  food,  and 
domestic  customs  probably  continued  much  the  same 
until  after  the  Norman  invasion,  when  different  customs 
were  introduced  amongst  the  upper  classes. 


FOURTH,  OR  NORMAN  PERIOD. 


FROM  A.D.  1168  TO  A.D.  1509. 


PRINCIPAL  EVENTS. 

DERMOT  MAC  MURROUGH  SEEKS  THE  ASSISTANCE  OF  HENRY  II. 
TO  ENABLE  HIM  TO  RECOVER  HIS  KINGDOM  —  ARRIVAL  OF 
STRONGBOW  —  HIS  MARRIAGE  WITH  EVA  MAC  MURROUGH 
—  VISIT  OF  PRINCE  JOHN  TO  IRELAND  —  GRADUAL  ESTAB- 
LISHMENT OF  THE  ANGLO-NORMAN  NOBLES  IN  IRELAND  — 
THE  NATIVE  PRINCES  DRIVEN  GRADUALLY  FROM  THEIR 
POSSESSIONS  —  FEUDS  BETWEEN  THE  BURKES  OR  DE  BUR- 
GOS, AND  THE  GERALDINES  OR  FITZGERALDS  —  RISE  OF 
THE  BUTLER  FAMILY  —  THE  FAMOUS  EARL  OF  KILDARE 
VISITS  HENRY  VH. 


(155) 

/ 


THE  NORMAN  INVASION. 


157 


CHAPTER  XII. 

A.D.  1168  TO  A.D.  1176. 
INVASION  OF  IRELAND  BY  THE  NORMANS. 

The  period  of  Irish  History,  of  which  we  now  treat  at 
present,  is  most  important  and  full  of  interest,  because 
here  we  find  the  first  link  in  the  chain  by  which  Ireland 
was  united  to  the  British  dominions.  When  Dermot 
fled  to  Henry  II.  for  assistance,  no  one  could  have  fore- 
seen what  great  results  would  follow.  Still,. there  is  evi- 
dence that,  for  some  short  time  previous  to  this  event, 
the  English  monarchs  had  looked  anxiously  across  the 
Channel,  and  hoped  at  some  time  to  annex  the  island, 
which  lay  so  near  them,  to  their  other  dominions. 

Henry  II.  inherited  Anjou  and  Lorraine  from  his 
father,  and  Normandy  and  Maine  from  his  brother.  He 
had  married  Eleanor,  the  divorced  wife  of  Louis  of 
France.  Through  her  he  acquired  seven  provinces ; 
hence  he  possessed  more  territorial  authority  in  France 
than  the  monarch  of  that  country.  At  the  very  com- 
mencement of  his  reign  he  had  obtained  a  Bull  from 
Pope  Adrian  IY.  granting  him  the  right  "  to  enter  the 
island  of  Ireland,  to  subject  its  people  to  obedience  of 
laws,  to  eradicate  the  seeds  of  vice,  and  also  to  make 
every  house  pay  the  annual  tribute  of  one  penny  to  the 
blessed  Peter,  and  preserve  the  rights  of  the  Church  of 
that  land  whole  and  entire. "  There  can  be  no  doubt 
whatever  of  the  authenticity  of  this  Bull.  It  is  quite 
evident,  however,  that  the  state  of  Ireland  at  that  period 
was  represented  in  the  very  worst  light  to  the  Holy  See, 
for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  it.  But  there  can  be  no 
question  that,  both  morally  and  religiously,  the  state 
of  the  people  had  deteriorated  greatly.  Many  of  the 
monastic  houses  had  been  destroyed  by  the  Danes,  and 
many  more  had  been  destroyed  by  the  Irish  chiefs 
themselves  in  their  domestic  wars.    These  wars  also 


158 


COMPENDIUM  OP  IRISH  HISTORY. 


were,  as  such  wars  must  always  be,  a  source  of  national 
deterioration. 

Henry  was  too  much  occupied  with  his  own  affairs  to 
attempt  an  invasion  of  Ireland,  and  it  is  impossible  to 
conjecture  how  long  this  attempt  might  have  been  de- 
ferred, if  Dermot  had  not  appealed  to  him  for  assistance. 
The  Bull  was  granted  in  a.  d.  1155.  In  the  tyear  1168 
Dermot  fled  from  Ireland  to  Bristol,  where  he  hoped  to 
find  Henry,  but  the  king  was  then  in  Aquitaine,  and 
thither  the  Irish  chieftain  followed.  Dermot  only  asked 
for  assistance  to  recover  his  kingdom,  from  which  he 
had  been  expelled,  and  it  cannot  be  ascertained  how 
much  or  how  little  he  told  the  English  monarch  of  the 
circumstances.  Henry  granted  his  request  without  a 
moment's  hesitation,  and  in  return  for  the  subjoined  let- 
ter, in  which  he  took  him  "  into  the  bosom  of  his  grace 
and  benevolence/'  he  only  required  that  he  should  pay 
a  vassal's  homage  for  his  own  estates.  The  royal  letter 
ran  thus  :  — "  Henry,  king  of  England,  duke  of  Nor- 
mandy and  Aquitaine,  and  earl  of  Anjou,  to  all  his 
liegemen,  English,  Norman,  Welsh  and  Scotch,  and  to 
all  the  nation  under  his  dominion,  sends  greeting.  As 
soon  as  the  present  letter  shall  come  to  your  hands, 
know  that  Dermot,  prince  of  Leinster,  has  been  re- 
ceived into  the  bosom  of  our  grace  and  benevolence ; 
wherefore,  whosoever,  within  the  ample  extent  of  our 
territories,  shall  be  willing  to  lend  aid  towards  this 
prince  as  our  faithful  and  liege  subject,  let  such  person 
know  that  we  do  hereby  grant  to  him  for  said  purpose 
our  license  and  favor."  It  is  remarkable  that  there  is 
no  allusion  in  this  letter  to  the  Bull  of  Adrian,  and  in 
whatever  light  we  may  view  this  omission,  it  is  cer- 
tainly inexplicable. 

For  some  time  Dermot  failed  in  his  efforts  to  obtain 
assistance.  After  some  fruitless  negotiations  with  the 
needy  and  lawless  adventurers  who  thronged  the  port 
of  Bristol,  he  applied  to  the  earl  of  Pembroke,  Richard 
de  Clare.  This  nobleman  had  obtained  the  name  of 
Strongbow,  by  which  he  is  more  generally  known,  from 
his  skill  in  archery.  Two  other  young  men  of  rank 
joined  the  party  ;  they  were  the  sons  of  the  beautiful 
and  infamous  Nesta,  once  the  mistress  of  Henry  I.,  but 
now  the  wife  of  Gerald,  governor  of  Pembroke  and  lord 


LANDING  OP  THE  ANGLO-NORMANS. 


159 


of  Carew.  The  knights  were  Maurice  PitzGerald  and 
Eobert  FitzStephen.  Dermot  had  promised  them  the 
city  of  Wexford  and  two  cantreds  of  land  as  their 
reward.  Strongbow  was  to  succeed  him  on  the  throne 
of  Leinster,  and  to  receive  the  hand  of  his  young  and 
beautiful  daughter,  Eva,  in  marriage. 

There  is  considerable  uncertainty  as  to  the  real  date 
and  the  precise  circumstances  of  Dermot's  arrival  in  Ire- 
land. According  to  one  account,  he  returned  at  the 
close  of  the  year  1168,  and  concealed  himself  during 
the  winter  in  a  monastery  of  Augustinian  canons  at 
Ferns,  which  he  had  founded.  The  two  principal 
authorities  are  Giraldus  Cambrensis  and  Maurice  Be- 
gan ;  the  latter  was  Dermot  Mac  Murrough's  secretary. 
According  to  his  account,  Robert  FitzStephen  landed 
at  Bannow,  near  Waterford,  in  May,  1169,  with  an  army 
of  three  hundred  archers,  thirty  knights,  and  sixty  men- 
at-arms.  A  second  detachment  arrived  the  next  day, 
headed  by  Maurice  de  Prendergast,  a  Welsh  gentleman, 
with  ten  knights  and  sixty  archers.  Dermot  at  once 
assembled  his  men,  and  joined  his  allies.  He  could 
only  muster  five  hundred  followers  ;  but  with  their 
united  forces,  such  as  they  were,  the  outlawed  king  and 
the  needy  adventurers  laid  siege  to  the  city  of  Wexford. 
The  brave  inhabitants  of  this  mercantile  town  at  once 
set  forth  to  meet  them ;  but,  fearing  the  result  if  at- 
tacked in  open  field  by  well-disciplined  troops,  they 
fired  the  suburbs,  and  entrenched  themselves  in  the 
town.  Next  morning  the  assaulting  party  prepared  for 
a  renewal  of  hostilities,  but  the  clergy  of  Wexford 
advised  an  effort  for  peace  :  terms  of  capitulation  were 
negotiated,  and  Dermot  was  obliged  to  pardon,  when  he 
would  probably  have  preferred  to  massacre.  It  is  said 
that  FitzStephen  burned  his  little  fleet,  to  show  his 
followers  that  they  must  conquer  or  die.  Two  cantreds 
of  land,  comprising  the  present  baronies  of  Forth  and 
Bargy,  were  bestowed  upon  him,  and  thus  the  first 
English  colony  was  established  in  Ireland. 

The  Irish  princes  at  first  took  but  little  notice  of  the 
new  comers.  The  Annals  say  they  "set  nothing  by 
the  Flemings. "  Roderic,  the  reigning  monarch,  was 
not  the  man  either  to  foresee  danger,  or  to  meet  it 
when  foreseen ;  though  we  might  pardon  even  a  more 


160 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY, 


sharp-sighted  and  vigilant  warrior,  for  overlooking  the 
possible  consequence  of  the  invasion  of  a  few  mercenary 
troops,  whose  only  object  appeared  to  be  the  reinstate* 
ment  of  a  petty  king. 

Dermot  Mac  Murrough  soon  found  himself  at  the 
head  of  three  thousand  men,  and  as  he  did  not  meet 
with  any  opposition,  he  determined  to  act  on  the  offen- 
sive. He  marched  into  the  adjoining  territory  of  Os- 
sory,  and  made  war  on  its  chief,  Donough  FitzPatrick ; 
and,  after  a  brave  but  unsuccessful  resistance,  it  sub- 
mitted to  his  rule.  The  Irish  monarch  was  at  length 
aroused  to  some  degree  of  apprehension.  He  sum- 
moned a  hosting  of  the  men  of  Ireland  at  Tara ;  and 
with  the  army  thus  collected,  assisted  by  the  lords  of 
Meath,  Oriel,  Ulidia,  Breffni,  and  some  northern  chief- 
tains, he  at  once  proceeded  to  Dublin.  Dermot  was 
alarmed,  and  retired  to  Ferns.  Eoderic  pursued  him 
thither.  But  dissension  had  already  broken  out  in  the 
Irish  camp  :  the  Ulster  chiefs  returned  home  ;  the  con- 
tingent was  weakened  ;  and,  either  through  fear,  or 
from  the  natural  indolence  of  his  pacific  disposition,  he 
agreed  to  acknowledge  Mac  Murrough's  authority. 
Mac  Murrough  gave  his  son  Cormac  as  hostage  for 
the  fulfilment  of  the  treaty.  A  private  agreement  was 
entered  into  between  the  two  kings,  in  which  Dermot 
pledged  himself  to  dismiss  his  foreign  allies  as  soon  as 
possible,  and  to  bring  no  more  strangers  into  the  coun- 
try. It  is  more  than  probable  that  he  had  not  the 
remotest  idea  of  fulfilling  his  promise  ;  it  is  at  least  cer- 
tain that  he  broke  it  the  first  moment  it  was  his  interest 
to  do  so.  Dermot's  object  was  simply  to  gain  time, 
and  in  this  he  succeeded. 

Maurice  FitzGerald  arrived  at  Wexford  a  few  clays 
after,  and  the  recreant  king  at  once  proceeded  to  meet 
him ;  and  with  this  addition  to  his  army,  marched  to 
attack  Dublin.  The  Dano-Celts,  who  inhabited  this  city, 
had  been  so  cruelly  treated  by  him,  that  they  dreaded  a 
repetition  of  his  former  tyrannies.  They  had  elected 
a  governor  for  themselves,  but  resistance  was  useless. 
After  a  brief  struggle,  they  were  obliged  to  sue  for  peace 
—  a  favor  which  probably  would  not  have  been  granted 
without  further  massacres  and  burnings,  had  not  Dermot 
wished  to  bring  his  arms  to  bear  in  another  quarter 


STRONGBOW  INVADES  IRELAND. 


161 


Donnell  O'Brien,  prince  of  Thomond,  who  had  mar- 
ried a  daughter  of  Dermot,  had  just  rebelled  against 
Eoderic,  and  the  former  was  but  too  willing  to  assist 
him  in  his  attempt.  Thus  encouraged  where  he  should 
have  been  treated  with  contempt,  and  hunted  down 
with  ignominy,  his  ambition  became  boundless.  He 
played  out  the  favorite  game  of  traitors ;  and  no  doubt 
hoped,  when  he  had  consolidated  his  own  power,  that 
he  could  easily  expel  his  foreign  allies.  Strongbow 
had  not  yet  arrived,  though  the  winds  had  been  long 
enough  "at  east  and  easterly." 

Giraldus  Cambrensis  takes  to  himself  the  credit  of 
having  advised  the  despatch  of  a  letter  to  him.  He 
gives  a  copy  of  this  document,  which  was  probably  his 
own  composition,  as  it  is  written  in  the  bombastic  style 
in  which  he  wrote  the  praises  of  his  own  family.  The 
letter  commences  thus:  "  We  have  watched  the  storks 
and  swallows  ;  the  summer  birds  have  come  and  gone/' 
etc.  It  is  not  likely  that  Dermot  knew  how  to  write  ; 
and  if  he  did,  he  would  scarcely  have  written  in  this 
fashion. 

Strongbow's  position  was  a  critical  one,  and  this  was 
the  real  cause  of  his  delay.  Henry  and  his  barons 
were  never  on  very  good  terms,  and  there  were  some 
special  reasons  why  he  should  prove  no  exception  to 
this  rule. 

The  first  member  of  -  the  earl's  family  who  had  settled 
in  England  was  Kichard,  son  of  the  Norman  earl,  Brien, 
a  direct  descendant  of  Robert  "the  Devil/'  duke  of 
Normandy,  father  of  William  the  Conqueror.  In  return 
for  services  at  the  battle  of  Hastings,  and  general  as- 
sistance in  conquering  the  English,  this  family  obtained 
a  large  grant  of  land  in  England,  and  took  the  title  of 
earl  of  Clare  from  one  of  their  ninety-five  lordships  in 
Suffolk.  The  Strongbow  family  appears  to  have  inher- 
ited from  their  viking  ancestors  a  passion  for  making 
raids  on  neighboring  lands.  Strongbow's  father  had 
obtained  his  title  of  earl  of  Pembroke,  and  his  property 
in  the  present  county  of  that  name,  from  his  successful 
marauding  expedition  in  Wales,  in  1138.  But  as  he 
revolted  against  Stephen,  his  lands  were  seized  by 
that  king;  and  after  his  death,  in  1148,  his  son  suc- 
ceeded to  his  very  numerous  titles,  without  any  prop- 


162 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


erty  commensurate  thereto.  Richard  was  not  in  favor 
with  his  royal  master,  who  probably  was  jealous  of  the 
earl,  despite  his  poverty ;  but  as  Strongbow  did  not 
wish  to  lose  the  little  he  had  in  England,  or  the 
chance  of  obtaining  more  in  Ireland,  he  proceeded  at 
once  to  the  court,  then  held  in  Normandy,  and  asked 
permission  for  his  new  enterprise.  Henry's  reply  was 
so  carefully  worded,  that  he  could  declare  afterwards 
he  either  had  or  had  not  given  the  permission,  which 
ever  version  of  the  interview  might  eventually  prove 
most  convenient  to  the  royal  interests.  Strongbow 
took  the  interpretation  which  suited  his  own  views, 
and  proceeded  to  the  scene  of  action  with  as  little 
delay  as  possible.  He  arrived  in  Ireland,  according  to 
the  most  generally  received  account,  on  the  vigil  of 
St.  Bartholomew,  a.  d.  1170,  and  landed  at  Dundonnell, 
near  Waterford.  His  uncle,  Hervey  de  Montmarisco, 
had  already  arrived,  and  established  himself  in  a  tempo- 
rary fort,  where  he  had  been  attacked  by  the  brave  cit- 
izens of  Wexford.  But  the  besieged  maintained  their 
position,  killed  five  hundred  men,  and  made  prisoners 
of  seventy  of  the  principal  citizens  of  Waterford.  Large 
sums  of  money  were  offered  for  their  ransom,  but  in 
vain.  They 'were  cruelly  murdered  by  the  English  sol- 
diers, who  first  broke  their  limbs,  and  then  hurled  them 
from  a  precipice  into  the  sea. 

Meanwhile,  Strongbow  had  been  collecting  forces  in 
South  Wales ;  but,  as  he  was  on  the  very  eve  of  de- 
parture, he  received  a  peremptory  order  from  Henry, 
forbidding  him  to  leave  the  kingdom.  After  a  brief 
hesitation  he  determined  to  bid  defiance  to  the  royal 
mandate,  and  set  sail  for  Ireland.  The  day  after  his 
arrival  he  laid  siege  to  Waterford.  The  citizens  behaved 
like  heroes,  and  twice  repulsed  their  assailants  ;  but 
their  bravery  could  not  save  them  in  the  face  of  overpow- 
ering numbers.  A  breach  was  made  in  the  wall ;  the 
besiegers  poured  in  ;  and  a  merciless  massacre  followed. 
Dermot  arrived  while  the  conflict  was  at  its  height,  and 
for  once  lie  has  the  credit  of  interfering  on  the  side  of 
mercy.  Reginald,  a  Danish  lord,  and  OThelan,  prince 
of  the  Deisi,  were  about  to  be  slain  by  their  captors, 
but  at  his  request  they  were  spared,  and  the  general 
carnage  was  suspended.    For  the  sake  of  common 


MARRIAGE  OF  EVA  AND  STR0NGB0W. 


163 


humanity  one  would  wish  to  think  that  this  was  an  act 
of  mercy  But  unfortunately  for  his  character,  we  are 
obliged  to  refer  his  interference  to  very  different  mo- 
tives. He  had  already  arranged  a  marriage  between 
his  daughter  Eva  and  the  Norman  earl,  and  he  was 
anxious  that  the  nuptials  should  be  solemnized  with  as 
little  delay  as  possible.  This  connection,  indeed,  was 
the  only  security  which  he  had  for  himself,  since,  with- 
out this  bond  of  union,  Strongbow  might  not  have  kept 
faith  with  him  when  his  authority  became  established 
in  Ireland. 

The'  ceremony  was  performed  in  Waterford  on  the 
day  after  the  massacre,  and  the  wedding  cortege  passed 
over  the  bleeding  bodies  of  the  d^ing  and  the  dead. 
Immediately  after  the  ceremony,  the  army  set  out  for 
Dublin.  Koderic  had  collected  a  large  force  near  Clon- 
dalkin,  and  Hosculf,  the  Danish  governor  of  the  city,  en- 
couraged by  their  presence,  had  again  revolted  against 
Dermot.  The  English  army  having  learned  that  the 
woods  and  defiles  between  Wexford  and  Dublin  were 
well  guarded,  had  made  forced  marches  along  the 
mountains,  and  succeeded  in  reaching  the  capital  long 
before  they  were  expected.  Their  decision  and  military 
skill  alarmed  the  inhabitants  —  they  might  also  have 
heard  reports  of  the  massacres  at  Wexford  ;  be  this  as 
it  .may,  they  determined  to  negotiate  for  peace,  and 
commissioned  their  illustrious  archbishop,  St.  Laurence 
O'Toole,  to  make  terms  with  Dermot.  While  the  dis- 
cussion was  pending,  two  of  the  English  leaders,  Kay- 
mond  le  Gros  and  Miles  de  Cogan,  obtained  an  entrance 
into  the  city,  and  commenced  a  merciless  butchery  of 
the  inhabitants.  When  the  archbishop  returned,  he 
heard  cries  of  misery  and  groans  of  agony  in  all  quar- 
ters, and  it  was  not  without  difficulty  that  he  succeeded 
in  appeasing  the  fury  of  the  soldiers,  and  the  rage  of  the 
people  who  had  been  so  basely  treated. 

The  Four  Masters  accuse  the  people  of  Dublin  of  hav- 
ing attempted  to  purchase  their  own  safety  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  national  interests,  and  say  that  "  a  miracle 
was  wrought  against  them  "  as  a  judgment  for  their 
selfishness.  Hosculf,  the  Danish  governor,  fled  to  the 
Orkneys  with  some  of  the  principal  citizens,  and  Rod- 
eric  withdrew  his  forces  to  Meath,  to  support  O'Rourke, 


164 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


upon  whom  he  had  bestowed  a  portion  of  that  territory. 
Miles  de  Cogan  was  invested  with  the  government  of 
Dublin,  and  Dermot  marched  to  Meath,  to  attack  Rod- 
eric  and  O'Rourke,  against  whom  he  had  an  old  grudge 
of  the  worst  and  bitterest  kind.  He  had  injured  him 
by  carrying  off  his  wife,  Dervorgil,  and  men  generally 
hate  most  bitterly  those  whom  they  have  injured  most 
cruelly. 

Meanwhile,  MacCarthy  of  Desmond  had  attacked  and 
defeated  the  English  garrison  at  Waterford,  but  without 
any  advantageous  results.  Roderick  weakness  now  led 
him  to  perpetrate  an  act  of  cruelty,  although  it  could 
scarcely  be  called  unjust  according  to  the  ideas  of  the 
times.  It  will  be  Remembered  that  he  had  received  host- 
ages from  Dermot  for  the  treaty  of  Ferns.  That  treaty 
had  been  openly  violated,  and  the  king  sent  ambassadors 
to  him  to  demand  its  fulfilment,  by  the  withdrawal  of  the 
English  troops,  threatening,  in  case  of  refusal,  to  put 
the  hostages  to  death.  Dermot  laughed  at  the  threat. 
Under  any  circumstances  he  was  not  the  man  who 
would  hesitate  to  sacrifice  his  own  flesh  and  blood  to 
his  ambition.  Roderic  was  as  good  as  his  word ;  and 
the  three  royal  hostages  were  put  to  death  at  Athlone. 

Dermot  Mac  Murrough  died  at  Ferns,  a.  d.  1111,  on 
the  4th  of  May  The  annalists  declare  that  he  died  of 
a  painful  and  loathsome  malady,  and  that  his  miserable 
end  was  a  judgment  on  him  for  his  crimes.  Strongbow 
at  once  proclaimed  himself  king  of  Leinster,  claiming 
the  province  in  right  of  Eva,  his  wife.  All  appeared 
to  promise  well  for  the  object  of  his  ambition,  when  he 
received  a  sudden  summons  from  Henry  to  return' to 
England.  The  barons  of  that  monarch,  always  turbu- 
lent, had  now  a  new  ground  for  aggression,  in  the 
weakness  to  which  he  had  exposed  himself  by  his  vir- 
tual sanction  of  the  murder  of  St.  Thomas  of  Canter- 
bury, and  he  was  fain  to  content  himself  with  a  strong 
injunction  commanding  all  his  English  subjects  then  in 
Ireland  to  return  immediately,  and  forbidding  any  fur- 
ther reinforcements  to  be  sent  to  that  country.  Strong- 
bow  was  alarmed,  and  at  once  despatched  Raymond  le 
Gros  with  apologies  and  explanations,  offering  the  king 
all  the  lands  he  had  acquired  in  Ireland.  Henry  does 
not  appear  to  have  taken  the  slightest  notice  of  these 


THE  IRISH  ATTEMPT  TO  EXPEL  THE  NORMANS.  165 


communications,  and  the  earl  determined  to  risk  his 
displeasure,  and  remain  in  Ireland. 

But  he  soon  found  serious  embarrassments  in  his 
career.  His  Irish  adherents  forsook  him  on  the  death  of 
Dermot  ;  Dublin  was  besieged  by  a  Scandinavian  force, 
which  Hosculf  had  collected  in  the  Orkneys,  and  which 
was  conveyed  in  sixty  vessels,  under  the  command  of 
Johan  le  Deve  (the  Furious).  Miles  de  Cogan  repulsed 
this  formidable  attack  successfully,  and  captured  the 
leaders.  Hosculf  was  put  to  death  ;  but  he  appears  to 
have  brought  his  fate  on  himself  by  a  proud  and  incau- 
tious boast. 

An  attempt  was  now  made  by  the  Irish  to  expel  the 
Norman  nobles.  The  archbishop  of  Dublin,  who  was 
revered  as  a  saint,  and  respected  as  a  councillor,  made 
earnest  efforts  to  unite  the  national  chieftains  and  rally 
the  national  arrm\  His  words  appeared  to  have  some 
effect.  Messengers  were  sent  to  ask  assistance  from 
Godfred,  king  of  the  Isle  of  Man,  and  other  island  war- 
riors. Strongbow  became  aware  of  his  danger,  and 
threw  himself  into  Dublin  ;  but  he  soon  found  himself 
landlocked  by  an  army,  and  enclosed  at  sea  by  a  fleet. 
Roderic  O'Connor  commanded  the  national  forces,  sup- 
ported by  Tiernan  O'Rourke  and  Murrough  0' Carroll. 
St.  Laurence  O'Toole  remained  in  the  camp,  and  strove 
to  animate  the  men  by  his  exhortations  and  example. 
The  Irish  army  contented  themselves  with  a  blockade, 
and  the  besieged  were  soon  reduced  to  extremities  from 
want  of  food.  Strongbow  offered  terms  of  capitulation 
through  the  archbishop,  proposing  to  hold  the  kingdom 
of  Leinster  as  Rodericks  vassal ;  but  the  Irish  monarch 
demanded  the  surrender  of  the  towns  of  Dublin,  Wex- 
ford and  Waterford,  and  required  the  English  invaders 
to  leave  the  country  by  a  certain  day. 

While  these  negotiations  were  pending,  Donnell  Cav- 
anagh,  son  of  the  late  king  of  Leinster,  got  into  the 
city  in  disguise,  and  informed  Strongbow  that  Fitz- 
Stephen  was  closely  besieged  in  Wexford.  It  was 
then  at  once  determined  to  force  a  passage  through 
the  Irish  army.  Raymond  le  Gros  led  the  van,  Miles 
de  Cogan  followed  ;  Strongbow  and  Maurice  FitzGer- 
ald,  who  had  proposed  the  sortie,  with  the  remainder 
of  their  force,  brought  up  the  rear.    The  Irish  army 


166 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


were  totally  unprepared  for  this  sudden  move  ;  they  fled 
in  panic,  and  Roderic,  who  was  bathing  in  the  Liffey, 
escaped  with  difficulty. 

Strongbow  again  committed  the  government  of  Dub- 
lin to  Miles  de  Cogan,  and  set  out  for  Wexford.  On 
his  way  thither  he  was  opposed  by  O'Regan,  prince  of 
Idrone.  An  action  ensued,  which  might  have  termi- 
nated fatally  for  the  army,  had  not  the  Irish  prince 
received  his  death-wound  from  an  English  archer.  His 
troops  took  to  flight,  and  Strongbow  proceeded  on  his 
journey.  But  he  arrived  too  late.  Messengers  met 
him  on  the  way,  to  inform  him  that  the  fort  of  Carrig 
had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  Irish,  who  are  said  to 
have  practised  an  unjustifiable  stratagem  to  obtain  pos- 
session of  the  place.  As  usual,  there  are  two  versions 
of  the  story.  One  of  these  versions,  which  appears 
not  improbable,  is  that  the  besieged  had  heard  a  false 
report  of  the  affair  in  Dublin  ;  and  believing  Strongbow 
and  the  English  army  to  have  been  overthrown,  they 
surrendered  on  the  promise  of  being  sent  in  safety  to 
Dublin.  On  their  surrender,  the  conditions  were  vio- 
lated, FitzStephen  was  imprisoned,  and  some  of  his 
followers  killed.  The  charge  against  the  besiegers  is, 
that  they  invented  the  report  as  a  stratagem  to  obtain 
their  ends,  and  that  the  falsehood  was  confirmed  in  a 
solemn  manner  by  the  bishops  of  Wexford  and  Kildare. 

As  soon  as  the  Wexford  men  had  heard  of  Strong- 
bow's  approach,  they  set  fire  to  the  town,  and  fled  to 
Beg-Erin,  a  stockaded  island,  at  the  same  time  sending 
him  a  message,  that,  if  he  attempted  to  approach  they 
would  kill  all  their  prisoners.  The  earl  withdrew  to 
Waterford  in  consequence  of  this  threat,  and  here  he 
learned  that  his  presence  was  indispensable  in  England  ; 
he  therefore  set  off  at  onc^  to  plead  his  own  cause  with 
his  royal  master.  A  third  attack  had  been  made  on 
Dublin,  in  the  meantime,  by  the  lord  of  Breffni,  but  it 
was  repulsed  by  Miles.  With  this  exception,  the  Irish 
made  no  attempt  against  the  common  enemy,  and  do- 
mestic wars  were  as  frequent  as  usual. 

Henry  had  returned  to  England,  and  was  now  in 
Newenham,  in  Gloucestershire,  making  active  prepara- 
tions for  his  visit  to  Ireland.  He  received  Strongbow 
coldly,  and  at  first  refused  to  grant  him  a  personal  in- 


ARRIVAL  OF  HENRY  II.  IN  IRELAND. 


161 


terview.  After  a  proper  delay,  however,  he  admitted 
him  to  his  presence,  and  graciously  accepted  the  earl's 
offer  of  u  all  the  lands  he  had  won  in  Ireland. "  Thus, 
Irish  land  became,  for  the  first  time,  the  property  of  an 
English  king.  In  return  for  this  extorted  donation, 
Henry  restored  Strongbow's  Welsh  estates  ;  but  with 
consummate  hypocrisy  and  villany,  he  seized  the  estates 
of  the  Welsh  lords,  whom  he  hated  for  their  vigorous 
and  patriotic  opposition,  and  punished  them  for  allow- 
ing the  expedition,  which  he  had  just  sanctioned,  to 
sail  from  their  coasts  unmolested. 

It  is  probable  that  Henry  was  prompted  to  undertake 
this  expedition  by  policy  as  much  as  by  the  desire  of 
increasing  his  dominions.  He  was  doubtless  glad  of 
any  arrangement  which,  by  occupying  public  attention, 
might  draw  the  notice  of  his  barons  from  home  affairs, 
and  give  them  some  employment  which  would  prevent 
them  from  dwelling  upon  their  discontents. 

Henry  landed  in  Ireland  on  the  18th  of  October,  1171, 
at  Crook,  in  the  county  of  Waterford.  He  was  accom- 
panied by  Strongbow,  William  FitzAldelm,  Humphrey 
de  Bohun,  Hugh  de  Lacy,  Robert  FitzBarnard,  and 
many  other  lords.  His  whole  force,  which,  according 
to  the  most  authentic  English  accounts,  was  distributed 
in  four  hundred  ships,  consisted  of  five  hundred  knights, 
and  four  thousand  men-at-arms.  It  would  appear  that 
the  Irish  had  not  the  least  idea  of  his  intention  to  claim 
the  kingdom  as  his  own,  and  rather  looked  upon  him  as 
a  powerful  potentate  who  had  come  to  assist  the  native 
administration  of  justice,  than  as  a  new  claimant  for 
kingly  authority. 

It  must  ever  be  regretted,  that,  at  this  important 
period,  there  was  no  statesman  of  sufficient  ability  to 
provide  for  the  future,  no  leading  mind  to  give  its  im- 
press to  some  masterly  policy  by  which  the  two  nations 
might  have  been  really  united  at  once  and  forever. 
Ireland  had  long  been  distracted  and  desolated  by  do- 
mestic dissensions,  and  needed  a  firm  and  powerful 
hand  to  consolidate  its  various  dependencies  into  one. 
Unhappily,  this  was  precisely  what  the  English  settlers 
failed  to  do.  They  looked  on  the  country  as  a  land  to 
be  conquered ;  on  the  people,  as  a  race  who,  if  they' 
could  not  be  exterminated,  should  at  least  be,  as  far 


168 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


as  possible,  enslaved.  The  mistake  was  a  grave  one, 
and  has  led  to  the  most  deplorable  results;  but  it  must 
be  remembered  that  at  this  period  we  could  scarcely 
expect  much  statesmanship  or  consideration.  Each  of 
the  nobles  who  followed  Henry  was  naturally  anxious 
for  his  personal  aggrandizement,  and  sought  that  only. 
The  petty  chieftains  were  set  against  each  other,  in 
order  to  weaken  their  opposition  to  the  invaders ;  and 
the  conduct  of  both  parties  was  equally  selfish  and  un- 
wise. 

MacCarthy,  of  Desmond,  was  the  first  Irish  prince 
who  did  homage  to  the  English  king.  His  example 
was  followed  by  Donnell  O'Brien,  king  of  Thomond, 
who  swore  fealty  at  Cashel,  and  afterwards  surrendered 
Limerick.  Other  princes  followed  the  example.  They 
had  been  accustomed  for  centuries  to  an  Ard-Righ,  or 
chief  monarch,  who  had  a  nominal  authority  over  the 
lesser  potentates,  but  who  seldom  interfered  with  them. 
It  is  probable  that  the  majority  of  those  who  submitted 
to  Henry  looked  upon  him  in  this  light.  They  cer- 
tainly never  contemplated  being  themselves  ejected  by 
the  Norman  nobles  from  their  own  territories. 

The  northern  princes  still  held  aloof;  but  Roderic 
had  received  Henry's  ambassadors  personally,  and  paid 
the  usual  deference  which  one  king  owed  to  another 
who  was  considered  more  powerful.  Henry  determined 
to  spend  his  Christmas  in  Dublin,  and  resolved  on  a 
special  display  of  royal  state.  It  is  to  be  presumed 
that  he  wished  to  make  up  for  deficiency  in  stateliness 
of  person  by  stateliness  of  presence  ;  for,  like  most  of 
the  descendants  of  Duke  Robert  "the  Devil"  and  the 
daughter  of  the  Falaise  tanner,  his  appearance  was  not 
calculated  to  inspire  respect.  His  grey  bloodshot  eyes 
and  tremulous  voice  were  neither  knightly  nor  kingly 
qualifications ;  his  savage  and  ungovernable  temper 
made  him  appear  at  times  rather  like  a  demon  than  a 
man.  He  was  charged  with  having  violated  the  most 
solemn  oaths  when  it  suited  his  convenience.  A  cardi- 
nal had  pronounced  him  an  audacious  liar.  Count  Thie- 
bault  of  Champagne  had  warned  an  archbishop  not  to 
rely  on  any  of  his  promises,  however  sacredly  made. 
He  and  his  sons  spent  their  time  in  quarrelling  with 
each  other,  when  not  occupied  in  quarrelling  with  their 


HENRY  SPENDS  CHRISTMAS  IN  DUBLIN. 


169 


subjects.  His  eldest  son,  Kichard,  thus  graphically 
sketched  the  family  characteristics:  "The  custom  in 
our  family  is,  that  the  son  shall  hate  the  father  ;  our 
destiny  is  to  detest  each  other;  from  the  devil  we  came, 
to  the  devil  we  shall  go.;;  It  certainly  could  scarcely 
be  expected  that  the  rule  of  such  a  family  would  prove 
beneficial. 

A  special  residence  was  erected  for  the  court  of  Dub- 
lin, on  part  of  the  ground  now  occupied  by  the  Southern 
side  of  Dame  Street.  The  whole  extent  of  Dublin  at 
that  time,  was,  in  length,  from  Corn  Market  to  the 
Lower  Castle  Yard  ;  and,  in  breadth,  from  the  Liffey, 
then  covering  Essex  Street,  to  Little  Sheep  Street,  now 
Ship  Street,  where  a  part  of  the  town  wall  is  yet  stand- 
ing. The  only  edifices  in  existence  on  the  southern 
side  of  Dame  Street,  even  at  the  commencement  of  the  " 
seventeenth  century,  were  the  church  of  St.  Andrew, 
and  the  King's  Mills.  College  Green  was  then  quite  in 
the  country,  and  was  known  as  the  village  of  LeHogges, 
a  name -derived  apparently  from  the  Teutonic  word  Hoge, 
which  signifies  a  small  hill  or  sepulchral  mound.  Here 
there  was  a  nunnery  called  St.  Mary  le  Hogges,  which 
had  been  erected  and  endowed  not  many  years  before 
Henry's  arrival,  and  a  place  called  Hoggens  Butt,  where 
the  citizens  exercised  themselves  in  archery.  Here, 
during  the  winter  of  1171,  the  Celt,  the  Englishman,  and 
the  Norman,  may  have  engaged  in  peaceful  contests  and 
pleasant  trials  of  skill. 

When  the  Christmas  festivities  had  passed,  Henry 
turned  his  attention  to  business,  if,  indeed,  the  same 
festivities  had  not  also  been  a  part  of  his  diplomatic 
plans,  for  he  was  not  deficient  in  kingcraft.  In  a  synod 
at  Cashel  he  attempted  to  settle  ecclesiastical  affairs. 
In  a  Curia  Regis  held  at  Lismore,  he  imagined  he  had 
arranged  temporal  affairs.  These  are  subjects  which  de- 
mand our  best  consideration.  It  is  an  historical  fact, 
that  the  popes  claimed  and  exercised  great  temporal 
power  in  the  Middle  Ages  ;  it  is  admitted  also  that  they 
used  this  power,  in  the  main,  for  general  good  ; 1  and 
that,  as  monks  and  friars  were  the  preservers  of  litera- 

1  M.  Guizot  says :  "  She  (the  Church)  alone  resisted  the  system  of 
castes;  she  alone  maintained  the  principle  of  equality  of  compe- 
tition; she  alone  called  all  legitimate  superiors  to  possession  oi 
power."  Hist,  Gen.  de  la  Civilization  en  Europe,  Lect.  5. 

8 


170 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


ture,  so  popes  and  bishops  were  the  protectors  of  the 
rights  of  nations,  as  far  as  was  possible  in  such  turbu- 
lent times,  It  does  not  belong  to  our  present  subject 
to  theorize  on  the  origin  or  the  grounds  of  this  power ; 
it  is  sufficient  to  say  that  it  had  been  exercised  repeat- 
edly both  before  and  after  Adrian  granted  the  famous 
Bull,  by  which  he  conferred  the  kingdom  of  Ireland  on 
Henry  II.  The  Merovingian  dynasty  was  changed  on 
the  decision  of  Pope  Zachary.  Pope  Adrian  threatened 
Frederick  I.,  that  if  he  did  not  renounce  all  pretensions 
to  ecclesiastical  property  in  Lornbardy,  he  should  for- 
feit the  crown,  "  received  from  himself  and  through  his 
unction. ,;  When  Pope  Innocent  III.  pronounced  sen- 
tence of  deposition  against  Lackland  in  1211,  and  con- 
ferred the  kingdom  of  England  on  Philip  Augustus,  the 
latter  instantly  prepared  to  assert  his  claim,  though  he 
had  no  manner  of  title,  except  the  Papal  grant.  In 
fact,  at  the  very  moment  when  Henry  was  claiming 
the  Irish  crown  in  right  of  Adrian's  Bull,2  given  some 
years  previously,  he  was  in  no  small  trepidation  at  the 
possible  prospect  of  losing  his  English  dominions,  as  an 
excommunication  and  an  interdict  were  even  then  hang- 
in  g  over  his  head. 

It  has  been  already  shown  that  the  possession  of  Ire- 
land was  coveted  at  an  early  period  by  the  Norman 
rulers  of  Great  Britain.  When  Henry  II.  ascended  the 
throne  in  1154,  he  probably  intended  to  take  the  matter 
in  hand  at  once.  An  Englishman,  Adrian  IV.,  filled  the 
papal  chair.  The  English  monarch  would  naturally  find 
him  favorable  to  his  own  country.  John  of  Salisbury, 
then  chaplain  to  the  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  was  com- 
missioned to  request  the  favor.  No  doubt  he  repre- 
sented his  master  as  very  zealous  for  the  interests  of 
religion,  and  made  it  appear  that  his  sole  motive  was 
the  good,  temporal  and  spiritual,  of  the  barbarous  Irish  ; 

2  It  is  generally  admitted  that  there  is  no  doubt  of  the  authenticity 
of  this  document.  Baronius  published  it  from  the  Codex  Vaticanus; 
John  XXII.  has  annexed  it  to  his  Brief  addressed  to  Edward  II.  ;  and 
John  of  Salisbury  states  distinctly,  in  his  Metalogicus,  that  he  obtained, 
this  Bull  from  Adrian.  He  grounds  the  right  of  donation  on  the  sup- 
posed gift  of  the  island  by  Constantine.  As  the  question  is  one  of  in- 
terest and  importance,  we  subjoin  the  original:  "Ad  preces  meas 
illustri  Kegi  Anglorum  Henrico  II.  concessit  (Adrianus)  et  dedit  Hi- 
bernian jure  haereditariopossidendam,  sicut  literse  ipsius  testantur  in 
hodiernum  diem.  Nam  omnes  insula)  de  jure  antiquo  ex  donatione 
Con stan tini,  qui  earn  fundavit  et  dotavit,  dicuntur  ad  Rornanam 
Ecclesiam  pertinere."  —  Metalogicusi  i.4. 


pope  Adrian's  bull. 


in 


at  least,  this  is  plainly  implied  in  Adrian's  Bull.  The 
pope  could  have  no  motive  except  that  which  he  ex- 
pressed in  the  document  itself.  He  had  been  led  to 
believe  that  the  state  of  Ireland  was  deplorable ;  he 
naturally  hoped  that  a  wise  and  good  government  would 
restore  what  was  amiss.  There  is  no  doubt  that  there 
was  much  which  required  amendment,  and  no  one  was 
more  conscious  of  this,  or  strove  more  earnestly  to  effect 
it,  than  St.  Laurence  O'Toole,  the  prelate  who  governed 
the  archiepiscopal  see  of  Dublin  at  the  time  of  Henry's 
arrival  in  Ireland.  The  Irish  clergy  had  already  made 
the  most  zealous  efforts  to  remedy  whatever  needed  cor- 
rection ;  but  it  was  an  age  of  lawless  violence.  Keform 
was  quite  as  much  wanted  both  in  England  and  in  the 
Italian  States  ;  but  Ireland  had  the  additional  disadvan- 
tage of  having  undergone  three  centuries  of  ruthless 
plunder  and  desecration  of  her  churches  and  shrines,  and 
the  result  told  fearfully  on  that  land  which  had  once  been 
the  home  of  saints. 

Henry's  great  object  was  to  represent  himself  as  one 
who  had  come  to  redress  grievances  rather  than  to  claim 
allegiance  ;  but  however  he  may  have  deceived  princes 
and  chieftains,  he  certainly  did  not  succeed  in  deceiving 
the  clergy.  The  synod  of  Cashel,  which  he  caused  to  be 
convened,  was  not  attended  as  numerously  as  he  had  ex- 
pected, and  the  regulations  made  thereat  were  simply  a 
renewal  of  those  which  had  been  made  previously. 

Henry  did  not  succeed  much  better  with  his  admin- 
istration of  secular  affairs.  In  his  Curia  Regis,  at  Lis- 
more,  he  modelled  Irish  administration  on  Norman  pre- 
cedents, apparently  forgetting  that  a  kingdom  and  a 
province  should  be  differently  governed.  Strongbow 
was  appointed  earl  marshal ;  Hugh  de  Lacy,  lord  con- 
stable ;  Bertram  de  Verdun,  seneschal ;  Theobald  Wal- 
ter, chief  butler;  and  De  Wellesley,  royal  standard- 
bearer.  It  was  also  arranged  that,  on  the  demise  of  a 
chief  governor,  the  Norman  nobles  were  to  elect  a  suc- 
cessor, who  should  have  full  authority,  until  the  royal 
pleasure  could  be  known.  Henry  did  not  then  attempt 
to  style  himself  King  or  Lord  of  Ireland  ;  his  object 
seems  to  have  been  simply  to  obtain  authority  in  the 
country  through  his  nobles,  as  Wales  had  been  subdued 
in  a  similar  manner.    English  laws  and  customs  were 


172 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


also  introduced  for  the  benefit  of  English  settlers  ;  the 
native  population  still  adhered  to  their  own  legal  observ- 
ances. Henry  again  forgot  that  laws  must  be  suited 
to  the  nation  for  whom  they  are  made,  and  that  English 
laws  were  as  little  likely  to  be  acceptable  to  the  Celt,  as 
his  Norman  tongue  to  an  English-speaking  people. 

Dublin  was  now  made  over  to  the  inhabitants  of  Bris- 
tol. Hugh  de  Lacy,  its  governor,  has  been  generally 
considered  in  point  of  fact  the  first  viceroy  for  Ireland. 
He  was  installed  in  the  Norman  fashion,  and  the  sword 
and  cap  of  maintenance  were  made  the  insignia  of  the 
dignity.  Waterford  and  Wexford  were  also  bestowed  on 
royal  favorites,  or  upon  such  knights  as  were  supposed 
most  likely  to  hold  them  for  the  crown.  Castles  were 
erected  throughout  the  country,  which  were  portioned 
out  among  Henry's  needy  followers  ;  and  any  Irishman 
who  persisted  in  asserting  a  right  to  his  own  property 
was  denounced  as  a  rebel. 

The  winter  had  been  so  stormy  that  there  was  little 
communication  with  England ;  but  early  in  spring  the 
king  received  the  portentous  intelligence  of  the  arrival 
of  papal  legates  in  Normandy,  and  learned  that  they 
threatened  to  place  his  dominions  under  an  interdict,  if 
he  did  not  appear  immediately  to  answer  for  his  crime. 
Queen  Eleanor  and  his  sons  were  also  plotting  against 
him,  and  there  were  many  who  boldly  declared  that  the 
murder  of  the  archbishop  of  Canterbury  would  yet  be 
fearfully  avenged.  Henry  determined  at  once  to  sub- 
mit to  the  Holy  See,  and  to  avert  his  doom  by  a  real  or 
pretended  penitence.  He  therefore  sailed  for  England 
from  Wexford  harbor,  on  Easter  Monday,  the  17th  of 
April,  1172,  and  arrived  the  same  day  at  Port  Finnen,  in 
Wales. 

Giraldus  Cambrensis,  who  had  either  accompanied 
Strongbow  to  Ireland,  or  preceded  him  as  his  secretary, 
has  given  ample  details  of  the  state  of  Ireland  at  this 
period.  He  was  certainly  no  friend  to  the  inhabitants, 
whom  he  describes  as  barbarians  ;  but,  nevertheless,  he 
writes  very  severely  of  the  evils  which  resulted  from  the 
Norman  invasion.  <l  The  clergy  are  reduced  to  beggary 
in  the  island  ;  the  cathedral  churches  mourn,  having  been 
deprived,  by  the  aforesaid  persons  (the  leading  adven- 
turers), and  others  along  with  them,  or  who  came  over 


GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  NORMAN  NOBLES. 


173 


after  them,  of  the  lands  and  ample  estates  which  had 
been  formerly  granted  to  them  faithfully  and  devoutly. 
And  thus  the  exalting  of  the  Church  has  been  changed 
into  the  despoiling  or  plundering  of  the  Church. "  Nor 
is  his  account  of  the  temporal  state  of  the  kingdom  any 
better.  He  informs  us  that  Dermot  Mac  Murrough, 
the  originator  of  all  those  evils,  "  oppressed  his  nobles, 
exalted  upstarts,'  was  a  calamity  to  his  countrymen, 
hated  by  the  strangers,  and,  in  a  word,  at  war  with  the 
world. "  Of  the  Anglo-Norman  nobles,  many  of  whom 
were  his  own  relatives,  and  of  their  work,  he  writes 
thus:  "This  new  and  bloody  conquest  was  defiled  by 
an  enormous  effusion  of  blood,  and  the  slaughter  of  a 
Christian  people. And  again :  "  The  lands  even  of 
the  Irish  who  stood  faithful  to  our  cause,  from  the  first 
descent  of  FitzStephen  and  the  earl,  you  have,  in  viola- 
tion of  a  treaty,  made  over  to  your  friends. ;;  His  char- 
acter of  Henry  is,  that  he  was  more  given  to  "hunting 
than  to  holiness." 

Tiernan  O'Rourke,  the  lord  of  BrefFni,  had  been  one 
of  Henry's  favored  guests  at  his  Christmas  festivities. 
He  possessed  the  territory  of  East  Meath,  and  this  ter- 
ritory Henry  had  coolly  bestowed  upon  Hugh  de  Lacy. 
The  rightful  owner  was  not  quite  so  dazzled  by  the 
sunshine  of  royal  favor  as  to  be  willing  to  resign  his 
property  without  a  struggle.  The  Irish  chieftain  was 
persuaded  to  hold  a  conference  with  the  English  intruder 
at  the  hill  of  Tara,  near  Athboy.  Both  parties  were 
attended  by  armed  men.  A  dispute  ensued.  The  inter- 
preter was  killed  by  a  blow  aimed  at  De  Lacy,  who  fled 
precipitately  ;  O'Rourke  was  killed  by  a  spear-thrust  as 
he  mounted  his  horse,  and  vengeance  was  wreaked  on  his 
dead  body,  for  the  crime  of  wishing  to  maintain  his  rights, 
by  subjecting  it  to  decapitation.  His  head  was  impaled 
over  the  gate  of  Dublin  castle,  and  afterwards  sent  as  a 
present  to  Henry  II.  His  body  was  gibbeted,  with  the 
feet  upwards,  on  the  northern  side  of  the  same  building. 
The  Four  Masters  say  that  O'Rourke  was  treacherously 
slain.  From  the  account  given  by  Cambrensis,  it  would 
appear  that  there  was  a  plot  to  destroy  the  aged  chieftain, 
but  for  want  of  clearer  evidence  we  may  give  his  ene- 
mies the  benefit  of  the  doubt. 

Strongbow  was  now  employing  himself  by  depredat- 


1U 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


ing  the  territories  which  had  been  conferred  upon  him. 
He  took  an  army  of  one  thousand  horse  and  foot  into 
Offaly,  to  lay  waste  O'Dempsey's  territory,  that  prince 
having  also  committed  the  crime  of  wishing  to  keep  his 
ancestral  estates.  He  met  with  no  opposition  until  he 
was  about  to  return  with  the  spoils  ;  then,  as  he  passed 
through  a  defile,  the  chieftain  set  upon  him  in  the  rear, 
and  slew  several  of  his  knights,  carrying  off  the  Norman 
standard.  Robert  de  Quincey,  who  had  just  married 
a  daughter  of  Strongbow's  by  a  former  marriage,  was 
amongst  the  slain.  The  earl  had  bestowed  a  large  ter-  k 
ritory  in  Wexford  upon  him. 

Henry  was,  at  that  time,  suffering  from  domestic 
troubles  in  Normandy  ;  he  therefore  summoned  De  Clare 
to  attend  him  there.  It  would  appear  that  he  performed 
good  service  for  his  royal  master,  for  he  received  fur- 
ther .grants  of  lands  and  castles,  both  in  Normandy  and 
in  Ireland.  On  his  return  to  the  latter  country,  he  found 
that  the  spoilers  had  quarrelled  over  the  spoil.  Ray- 
.  mond  le  Oros  had  contrived  to  ingratiate  himself  with  the 
soldiers,  and  they  demanded  that  the  command  should  be 
transferred  from  Hervey  de  Montmarisco,  Strongbow's 
uncle,  to  the  object  of  their  predilection.  The  earl  was 
obliged  to  comply.  Their  object  was  simply  to  plunder. 
The  new  general  gratified  them  ;  and,  after  a  raid  on  the 
unfortunate  inhabitants  of  Offaly  and  Munster,  they  col- 
lected their  booty  at  Lismore,  intending  to  convey  it  by 
water  to  Waterford. 

The  Ostmen  of  Cork  attacked  them  by  sea,  but  failed 
to  conquer.  By  land  the  Irish  suffered  another  defeat. 
Raymond  encountered  MacOarthy  of  Desmond  on  his 
way  to  Cork,  and  plundered  him,  driving  off  a  rich  cat- 
tle spoil,  in  addition  to  his  other  ill-gotten  goods.  Ray-, 
mond  now  demanded  the  appointment  of  constable  of 
Leinster,  and  the  hand  of  Strongbow's  sister,  Basilia. 
But  the  earl  refused  ;  and  the  general,  notwithstanding 
his  successes,  retired  to  Wales  in  disgust. 

Hervey  now  resumed  the  command,  a.  d.  1174,  and 
undertook  an  expedition  against  Donneli  O'Brien,  which 
proved  disastrous  to  the  English.  Roderic  once  more 
appears  in  the  field.  The  battle  took  place  at  Thurles, 
and  seventeen  hundred  of  the  English  were  slain.  In 
consequence  of  this  disaster,  the  earl  proceeded  in  sor- 


RAYMOND  LE  GROS. 


175 


row  to  his  house  in  Waterford.  This  great  success  was 
a  signal  for  revolt  amongst  the  native  chieftains.  Don- 
ald Oavanagh  claimed  his  father's  territory,  and  Gilla- 
mochalmog  and  other  Leinster  chieftains  rose  up  against 
their  allies.  Koderic  O'Connor  at  the  same  time  invaded 
Meath,  and  drove  the  Anglo-Normans  from  their  castles 
at  Trim  and  Duleek.  Strongbow  was  obliged  to  despatch 
messengers  at  once  to  invite  the  return  of  Raymond  le 
Gros,  and  to  promise  him  the  offices  he  had  demanded, 
and  his  sister's  hand  in  marriage. 

Eaymond  came  without  a  moment's  delay,  accompa- 
nied by  a  considerable  force.  His  arrival  was  most 
opportune  for  the  English  cause.  The  Northmen  of 
Waterford  were  preparing  to  massacre  the  invaders, 
and  effected  their  purpose  when  the  earl  left  the  town 
to  join  the  new  reinforcements  at  Wexford.  The  nup- 
tials were  celebrated  at  Wexford  with  great  pomp  ;  but 
news  was  received,  on  the  following  morning,  that  Rod- 
eric  had  advanced  almost  to  Dublin  ;  and  the  mantle  and 
tunic  of  the  nuptial  feast  were  speedily  exchanged  for 
helmet  and  coat-of-mail.  Unfortunately  Roderic's  army 
was  already  disbanded.  The  English  soon  repaired  the 
injuries  which  had  been  done  to  their  fortresses ;  and 
once  more  the  Irish  cause  was  lost,  even  in  the  moment 
of  victory,  for  want  of  combination  and  a  leader. 

Henry  now  considered  it  time  to  produce  the  papal 
Bulls,  a.  d.  1175.  He  therefore  despatched  the  prior 
of  Wallingford,  and  William  FitzAldelm  to  Waterford, 
where  a  synod  of  the  clergy  was  assembled  to  hear 
these  important  documents.  The  English  monarch  had 
contrived  to  impress  the  Holy  See  with  wonderful  ideas 
of  his  sanctity,  by  his  penitential  expiations  of  his  share 
in  the  murder  of  St.  Thomas  a  Becket.  It  was  there- 
fore easy  for  him  to  procure  a  confirmation  of  Adrian's 
Bull  from  the  then  reigning  pontiff,  Alexander  III.  The 
pope  also  wrote  to  Christian,  the  legate,  to  the  Irish 
archbishops,  and  to  the  king.  Our  historians  have  not 
informed  us  what  was  the  result  of  this  meeting.  Had 
the  papal  donation  appeared  a  matter  of  national  import- 
ance, there  can  be  little  doubt  that  it  would  have  excited 
more  attention. 

Raymond  now  led  an  army  to  Limerick,  to  revenge 
himself  on  Donnell  O'Brien,  for  his  defeat  at  Thurlea, 


176 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


He  succeeded  in  his  enterprise.  Several  engagements 
followed,  in  which  the  Anglo-Normans  were  always  vic- 
torious. Roderic  now  sent  ambassadors  to  Henry  II. 
The  persons  chosen  were  Catholicus,  archbishop  of 
Tuam ;  Concors,  abbot  of  St.  Brendan's,  in  Clonfert; 
and  St.  Laurence  O'Toole,  styled  quaintly,  in  the  old 
Saxon  manner,  "  Master  Laurence/7  The  king  and 
council  received  them  at  Windsor.  The  result  of  their 
conference  was,  that  Roderic  consented  to  pay  homage 
to  Henry,  by  giving  him  a  hide  from  every  tenth  head  of 
cattle  ;  Henry,  on  his  part,  bound  himself  to  secure  the 
sovereignty  of  Ireland  to  Roderic,  excepting  only  Dublin, 
Meath,  Leinster,  Waterford,  and  Dungarvan.  In  fact, 
the  English  king  managed  to  have  the  best  share,  and 
made  a  favor  of  resigning  what  he  never  possessed,  and 
of  not  keeping  what  he  could  never  have  held.  This 
council  took  place  on  the  octave  of  the  feast  of  St. 
Michael,  a.  d.  1175.  By  this  treaty  Henry  was  simply 
acknowledged  as  a  superior  feudal  sovereign;  and  had 
Ireland  been  governed  with  ordinary  justice,  the  arrange- 
ment might  have  been  advantageous  to  both  countries. 

Roderic  was  still  a  king,  both  nominally  and  ipso  facto. 
He  had  power  to  judge  and  depose  the  petty  kings,  and 
they  were  to  pay  their  tribute  to  him  for  the  English 
monarch.  Any  of  the  Irish  who,  fled  from  the  territo- 
ries of  the  English  barons,  were  to  return  ;  but  the  king 
of  Connaught  might  compel  his  own  subjects  to  remain 
in  his  own  land.  Thus  the  English  simply  possessed  a 
colony  in  Ireland ;  and  this  colony,  in  a  few  years,  be- 
came still  more  .limited,  while  throughout  the  rest  of 
the  country  the  Irish  language,  laws,  and  usages,  pre- 
vailed as  they  had  hitherto  done. 

Henry  now  appointed  Augustin,  an  Irishman,  to  the 
vacant  see  of  Waterford,  and  sent  him,  under  the  care 
of  St.  Laurence,  to  receive  consecration  from  the  arch- 
bishop of  Cashel,  his  metropolitan.  For  a  century  pre- 
vious to  this  time,  the  bishops  of  Waterford  had  been 
consecrated  by  the  Norman  archbishops  of  Canterbury, 
with  whom  they  claimed  kindred. 

While  Raymond  was  still  in  Limerick,  Strongbow  died 
in  Dublin.  As  it  was  of  the  highest  political  importance 
that  his  death  should  be  concealed  until  some  one  was 
present  to  hold  the  reins  of  government,  his  sister, 


STRONGBOW'S  DEATH. 


m 


Basilia,  sent  an  enigmatical  letter1  to  her  husband,  which 
certainly  does  no  small  credit  to  her  diplomatic  skill. 
The  messenger  was  not  acquainted  with  the  earl's  death  ; 
and  such  of  the  Anglo-Normans  in  Dublin  as  were  aware 
of  it,  had  too  much  prudence  to  betray  the  secret.  Ray- 
mond at  once  set  out  on  his  journey.  Immediately  after 
his  arrival,  Fitz-Gislebert,  earl  de  Clare,  was  interred  in 
the  Cathedral  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  now  called  Christ's 
Church. 

Strongbow  has  not  obtained  a  flattering  character, 
either  from  his  friends  or  his  enemies.  Even  Cambren- 
sis  admits  that  he  was  obliged  to  be  guided  by  the  plans 
of  others,  having  neither  originality  to  suggest,  nor  tal- 
ent to  carry  out  any  important  line  of  action. 

The  Irish  annalists  call  him  the  greatest  destroyer 
of  the  clergy  and  laity  that  came  to  Ireland  since  the 
times  of  Turgesius  ("Annals  of  Innisfallen "  ).  The 
Four  Masters  record  his  demise  thus:  "The  English 
earl  (i.  e.  Richard)  died  in  Dublin  of  an  ulcer  which  had 
broken  out  in  his  foot,  through  the  miracles  of  SS. 
Brigid  and  Colum-cille,  and  of  all  the  other  saints  whose 
churches  had  been  destroyed  by  him.  He  saw,  he 
thought,  St.  Brigid  in  the  act  of  killing  him."  Pem- 
bridge  says  he  died  on  the  1st  of  May,  and  Cambrensis 
about  the  1st  of  June.  His  personal  appearance  is  not 
described  in  very  flattering  terms  ;  and  he  has  the  credit 
of  being  more  of  a  soldier  than  a  statesman,  and  not  very 
knightly  in  his  manner  or  bearing. 

The  earl  de  Clare  left  only  one  child,  a  daughter,  as 
heir  to  his  vast  estates.  She  was  afterwards  married  to 
William  Marshal,  earl  of  Pembroke.  Although  Strong- 
bow  was  a  "  destroyer  "  of  the  native  clergy,  he  appears 
to  have  been  impregnated  with  the  mediaeval  devotion 
for  establishing  religious  houes.  He  founded  a  priory 
at  Kilmainham  for  the  Knights  of  the  Temple,  with  an 
almshouse  and  hospital.  He  was  also  a  liberal  benefac- 
tor to  the  church  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  where  he  was 
buried. 

1  "  To  Raymond,  her  most  loving  lord  and  husband,  his  own  Basilia 
wishes  health  as  to  herself.  Know  you,  my  dear  lord,  that  the  great 
tooth  in  my  jaw,  which  was  wont  to  ache  so  much,  is  now  fallen  out : 
wherefore,  if  you  have  any  love  or  regard  for  me  or  of  yourself,  you 
will  delay  not  to  hasten  hither  with  all  speed."—  Gilbert's  Viceroys,  p. 
40.  It  is  said  that  this  letter  was  read  for  Raymond  by  a  cleric  of  his 
train,  so  it  is  presumable  that  reading  and  writing  were  not  made  a 
part  of  his  education. 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

A.D.  1176  TO  A.D.  1271. 

THE  EIRST  CENTURY  AFTER  THE  ARRIVAL  OF  THE 
NORMANS  IN  IRELAND. 

Contemporary  Events  :  —Third  and  fourth  Crusades— Latin  Empire 
of  Constantinople  founded— Mahommedan  power  overthrown  in 
Spain— Magna  Charta  signed— Fifth  and  sixth  Crusades— The  Han- 
seatic  League  founded— English  House  of  Commons  established — 
Bacon  Lectures  at  Oxford— Death  of  St.  Louis  of  France. 

Henry  II.  was  holding  his  court  of  Valognes,  in  Nor- 
mandy, when  the  news  of  Strongbow's  death  was  com- 
municated to  him.  He  at  once  nominated  his  sene- 
schal, FitzAldelmde  Burgo,  viceroy  of  Ireland,  a.d.  1176. 
The  new  governor  was  accompanied  by  John  de  Courcy, 
Eobert  FitzEstevene,  and  Miles  de  Cogan.  Raymond 
had  assumed  the  reins  of  government  after  the  death  of 
Strongbow,  but  Henry  appears  always  to  have  regarded 
him  with  jealousy,  and  gladly  availed  himself  of  every 
opportunity  of  lessening  the  power  of  one  who  stood  so 
high  in  favor  with  the  army.  The  viceroy  was  received 
at  Wexford  by  Raymond,  who  prudently  made  a  merit 
of  necessity,  and  resigned  his  charge.  It  is  said  that 
FitzAldelm  was  much  struck  by  his  retinue  and  numer- 
ous attendants,  all  of  whom  belonged  to  the  same  fam- 
ily ;  and  that  he  then  and  there  vowed  to  effect  their 
ruin.  From  this  moment  is  dated  the  distrust  so  fre- 
quently manifested  by  the  English  government  towards 
the  powerful  and  popular  Geraldines. 

The  new  viceroy  was  not  a  favorite  with  the  Anglo- 
Norman  colonists.  He  was  openly  accused  of  partiality 
to  the  Irish,  because  he  attempted  to  demand  justice  for 
them.  It  is  not  known  whether  this  policy  was  the 
result  of  his  own. judgment,  or  a  compliance  with  the 
wishes  of  his  royal  master.  His  conciliatory  conduct, 
whatever  may  have  been  its  motive,  was  unhappily  coun- 


CARDINAL  VIVIAN  HOLDS  A  SYNOD.  179 

teracted  by  the  violence  of  De  Courcy.  This  noble- 
man asserted  that  he  had  obtained  a  grant  of  Ulster 
from  Henry  II.  ;  on  what  grounds,  it  would  be  indeed 
difficult  to  ascertain.  He  proceeded  to  make  good  his 
claim  ;  and,  in  defiance  of  the  viceroy's  prohibition,  set 
out  for  the  north,  with  a  small  army  of  chosen  knights 
and  soldiers.  His  friend,  Sir  Almaric  Tristram  de  Saint 
Lawrence,  was  of  the  number.  He  was  De  Courcy's 
brother-in-law,  and  they  had  made  vows  of  eternal  friend- 
ship in  the  famous  cathedral  of  Rouen.  De  Courcy  is 
described  as  a  man  of  extraordinary  physical  strength, 
of  large  proportions,  shamefully  penurious,  rashly  impet- 
uous, and,  despite  a  fair  share  in  the  vices  of  the  age, 
full  of  reverence  for  the  clergy,  at  least  if  they  belonged 
to  his  own  race.  Cambrensis  gives  a  glowing  descrip- 
tion of  his  valor,  and  says  that  "  any  one  who  had  seen 
Jean  de  Courci  wield  his  sword,  lopping  off  heads  and 
arms,  might  well  have  commended  the  might  of  this 
warrior/ ; 

De  Courcy  arrived  in  Downpatrick  in  four  days.  The 
inhabitants  were  taken  by  surprise;  and  the  sound  of 
his  bugles  at  daybreak  was  the  first  intimation  they 
received  of  their  danger.  Cardinal  Yivian,  who  had  come 
as  legate  from  Alexander  III.,  had  but  just  arrived  at 
the  port.  He  did  his  best  to  promote  peace.  But 
neither  party  would  yield  ;  and  as  the  demands  of  the 
Norman  knights  were  perfectly  unreasonable,  Yivian 
advised  Dunlevy,  the  chieftain  of  Ulidia,  to  have  recourse 
to  arms.  A  sharp  conflict  ensued,  in  which  the  English 
gained  the  victory,  principally  through  the  personal 
bravery  of  their  leader.  This  battle  was  fought  about 
the  beginning  of  February ;  another  engagement  took 
place  on  the  24th  of  June,  in  which  the  northerns  were 
again  defeated. 

Cardinal  Vivian  now  proceeded  to  Dublin,  where  he 
held  a  synod.  The  principal  enactment  referred  to  the 
right  of  sanctuary.  During  the  Anglo-Norman  wars, 
the  Irish  had  secured  their  provisions  in  the  churches  ; 
and  it  is  said  that,  in  order  to  starve  out  the  enemy,  they 
even  refused  to  sell  at  any  price.  It  was  now  decreed 
that  sanctuary  might  be  violated  to  obtain  food ;  but  a 
fair  price  was  to  be  paid  for  whatever  was  taken.  It  is 
to  be  feared  these  conditions  were  seldom  complied  with. 


180 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


The  abbey  of  St.  Thomas  the  Martyr  was  founded  in  Dub- 
lin about  this  time,  by  FitzAldelm,  at  the  command  of 
Henry  II.,  one  of  his  many  acts  of  reparation.  The  site 
was  the  place  now  called  Thomas  Court.  The  viceroy 
endowed  it  with  a  carucate  of  land,  in  the  presence  of  the 
legate  and  St.  Laurence  O'Toole.  After  the  settlement 
of  these  affairs,  cardinal  Vivian  passed  over  to  Chester, 
on  his  way  to  Scotland. 

One  of  Roderic  O'Connor's  sons,  Murrough,  having 
rebelled  against  him,  Miles  de  Cogan  went  to  his  assist- 
ance—  a  direct  and  flagrant  violation  of  the  treaty  of 
Windsor.  At  Roscommon  the  English  were  joined  by 
the  unnatural  rebel,  who  guided  them  through  the  prov- 
ince. The  king  was  in  Iar-Connaught,  and  the  allies 
burned  and  plundered  without  mercy,  as  they  passed 
along  to  Trim.  Here  they  remained  three  nights  ;  but 
as  the  people  had  fled  with  their  cattle  and  other  mova- 
ble property  into  the  fastnesses,  they  had  not  been  able 
to  procure  any  spoil  on  their  march.  Roderic  soon 
appeared  to  give  them  battle ;  but  they  were  defeated 
without  considerable  loss.  Murrough  was  taken  pris- 
oner by  his  father,  and  his  eyes  were  put  out  as  a  pun- 
ishment for  his  rebellion,  and  to  prevent  a  repetition  of 
his  treachery. 

Another  violation  of  the  treaty  of  Windsor  was  also 
perpetrated  this  year,  a.d.  1177.  Henry  II.  summoned 
a  council  of  his  prelates  and  barons  at  Oxford,  and  sol- 
emnly conferred  the  title  of  King  of  Ireland  on  his  young- 
est son  John,  then  a  mere  child.  A  new  grant  of  Meath 
to  Hugh  de  Lacy  was  made  immediately  after,  in  the 
joint  names  of  Henry  II.  and  John.  Desmond  was  also 
granted  to  Miles  de  Cogan,  with  the  exception  of  the 
city  of  Cork,  which  the  king  reserved  to  himself.  Tho- 
mond  was  offered  to  two  English  nobles,  who  declined 
the  tempting  but  dangerous  favor.  It  was  then  pre- 
sented to  Philip  de  Bresosa ;  but  though  the  knight  was 
no  coward,  he  fled  precipitately,  when  he  discovered,  on 
coming  in  sight  of  Limerick,  that  the  inhabitants  had  set 
it  on  lire,  so  determined  was  their  resistance  to  foreign 
rule.  The  territory  of  Waterford  was  granted  to  Roger 
le  Poer ;  but,  aa  usual,  the  city  was  reserved  for  the 
royal  benefit.  In  fact,  Sir  John  Davies  well  observed, 
that  "all  Ireland  was  by  Henry  II.  cantonized  among. 


IRISH  BISHOPS  ATTEND  THE  COUNCIL  OF  LATERAN.  181 


ten  of  the  English  nation  ;  and  though  they  did  not  gain 
possession  of  one-third  of  the  kingdom,  yet  in  title  they 
were  owners  and  lords  of  all,  as  nothing  was  left  to  be 
granted  to  the  natives."  Meanwhile  De  Courcy  was 
plundering  the  northern  provinces.  His  wife,  Affreca, 
was  a  daughter  of  Godfrey,  king  of  Man,  and  thus  he 
could  secure  assistance  by  sea  as  well  as  by  land.  But 
the  tide  of  fortune  was  not  always  in  his  favor.  After 
he  had  plundered  in  Louth,  he  was  attacked,  in  the  vale 
of  Newry  river,  by  O'Carroll  of  Oriel  and  Dunlevy  of 
Ulidia.  On  this  occasion  he  lost  four  hundred  men, 
many  of  whom  were  drowned.  Soon  after,  he  suffered 
another  defeat  in  Antrim,  from  O'Flynn.  The  Four 
Masters  say  he  fled  to  Dublin ;  Dr.  O'Donovan  thinks 
that  we  should  read  Downpatrick.  The  latter  part  of 
the  name  cannot  be  correctly  ascertained,  as  the  paper 
is  worn  away. 

The  Irish  were,  as  usual,  engaged  in  domestic  dissen- 
sions, and  the  English  acted  as  allies  on  whichever  side 
promised  to  be  most  advantageous  to  themselves. 

In  1179  Henry  gave  the  office  of  viceroy  to  De  Lacy, 
and  recalled  FitzAldelm.  The  new  governor  employed 
himself  actively  in  erecting  castles  and  oppressing  the 
unfortunate  Irish.  Cambrensis  observes,  that  he  "  amply 
enriched  himself  and  his  followers  by  oppressing  others 
with  a  strong  hand."  Yet  he  seems  to  have  had  some 
degree  of  popularity,  even  with  the  native  Irish,  for  he 
married  a  daughter  of  Roderic  0' Connor  as  his  second 
wife.  This  alliance,  for  which  he  had  not  asked  permis- 
sion, and  his  popularity,  excited  the  jealousy  of  the  Eng- 
lish king,  who  deprived  him  of  his  office.  But  he  was 
soon  reinstated,  although  the  bishop  of  Shrewsbury,  with 
the  name  of  counsellor,  was  set  as  a  spy  on  his  actions. 
These  events  occurred  a.  d.  1181.  De  Lacj^s  old  com- 
panion, Hervey  de  Montmarisco,  became  a  monk  at 
Canterbury,  after  founding  the  Cistercian  monastery  of 
Dunbrody,  in  the  county  of  Wexford,  and  died  in  his 
seventy- fifth  year  at  the  English  house. 

In  1 179  several  Irish  bishops  were  summoned  by  Alex- 
ander III.  to  attend  the  third  general  council  of  Lateran. 
These  prelates  were,  St.  Laurence  of  Dublin,  O'Duffy  of 
Tuam,  O'Brien  of  Killaloe,  Felix  of  Lismore,  Augustine 
of  Waterford,  and  Brictius  of  Limerick.    Usher  says 


182 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


several  other  bishops  were  summoned ;  it  is  probable 
they  were  unable  to  leave  the  country,  and  hence  their 
names  have  not  been  given.  The  real  state  of  the  Irish 
Church  was  then  made  known  to  the  Holy  See ;  no  liv- 
ing man  could  have  described  it  more  accurately  and 
truthfully  than  the  holy  prelate  who  had  sacrificed  him- 
self for  so  many  years  for  its  good.  Even  as  the  bish- 
ops passed  through  England,  the  royal  jealousy  sought 
to  fetter  them  with  new  restrictions ;  and  they  were 
obliged  to  take  an  oath  that  they  would  not  sanction  any 
infringements  on  Henry's  prerogatives.  St.  Malachy 
was  now  appointed  legate  by  the  pope,  with  jurisdiction 
over  the  five  suffragans,  and  the  possessions  attached  to 
his  see  were  confirmed  to  him. 

In  1183  the  unfortunate  Irish  monarch,  Roderic,  had 
retired  to  the  abbey  of  Cong,  and  left  such  empty  titles 
as  he  possessed  to  his  son  Connor.  De  Lacy  and  De 
Courcy  had  occupied  themselves  alternately  in  plunder- 
ing and  destroying  the  religious  houses  which  had  so 
long  existed,  and  in  founding  new  monasteries  with  a 
portion  of  their  ill-gotten  gains.  It  would  appear  that 
De  Lacy  built  so  far  on  his  popularity  with  the  Anglo- 
Normans,  as  to  have  aspired  to  the  sovereignty  of  Ire- 
land,—  an  aspiration  which  his  master  soon  discovered, 
and  speedily  punished.  He  was  supplanted  by  Philip  of 
Worcester,  who  exceeded  all  his  predecessors  in  rapac  - 
ity  and  cruelty  to  the  native  Irish. 

It  is  probable,  when  Henry  II.  conferred  the  title  of 
King  of  Ireland  on  his  favorite  son  John,  that  he  intended 
him  to  govern  that  country  as  viceroy,  and  probably 
supposed  that  some  such  arrangement  would  be  made 
for  the  future  by  his  successors.  But  even  if  his  sons 
had  been  less  turbulent  and  unruly  than  they  were,  it 
was  obvious  that  this  would  be  a  dangerous  experiment. 
A  prince  who  held  such  a  position  would  be  likely  soon 
to  claim  the  power  as  well  as  the  title  of  king,  and  Ire- 
land might  have  to  be  regained  from  the  new  settlers 
themselves.  The  visit  of  Prince  John  was  probably  an 
experiment :  it  proved  in  every  way  singularly  unsuc- 
cessful. 

The  prince  was  very  unwilling  to  undertake  the  expe- 
dition. As  he  was  on  the  eve  of  his  departure,  Eraclius, 
patriarch  of  Jerusalem,  arrived  in  England,  to  enjoin  the 


PRINCE  JOHN  IN  IRELAND. 


183 


fulfilment  of  the  king's  vow  to  undertake  a  crusade  to 
Palestine.  As  Henry  had  got  out  of  his  difficulties,  he 
declined  to  fulfil  his  solemn  engagement,  and  refused 
permission  to  his  son  John,  who  threw  himself  at  his 
father's  feet,  and  implored  leave  to  be  his  substitute. 
Eraclius  then  poured  forth  his  indignation  upon  Henry, 
with  all  the  energetic  freedom  of  the  age.  He  informed 
him  that  God  would  punish  his  impieties  —  that  he  was 
worse  than  any  Saracen  ;  and  hinted  that  he  might  have 
inherited  his  wickedness  from  his  grandmother,  the  coun- 
tess of  Anjou,  who  was  reported  to  be  a  witch,  and  of 
whom  it  was  said  that  she  had  flown  through  the  win- 
dow during  the  most  solemn  part  of  Mass,  though  four 
squires  attempted  to  hold  her  ! 

Henry,  however,  was  firm,  and  Prince  John  sailed 
from  Milford  haven  on  the  evening  of  Easter  Wednesday, 
a.  d.  1185.  He  landed  with  his  troops  at  Waterford 
on  the  following  day.  The  famous  Cambrensis,  Gerald 
Barry,  was  appointed  his  tutor,  in  conjunction  with 
Eamsey  de  Glanville.  These  men  were  both  notoriously 
prejudiced  against  the  Irish,  and  looked  on  them  as  a  race 
of  savages,  who  only  existed  to  be  plundered  and  scoffed 
at  by  the  new  settlers.  Under  such  tuition  it  is  little 
wonder  that  the  young  prince  treated  the  Celtic  chief- 
tains with  contempt  and  scorn.  His  followers  openly 
ridiculed  their  dress,  and  especially  their  peculiar  method 
of  wearing  their  hair,  and  even  went  so  far  as  to  pull  the 
beards  of  Leinster  men. 

It  is  said  that  all  this  was  encouraged  by  De  Lacy, 
who  naturally  looked  on  the  prince  as  an  interloper,  and 
wished  to  keep  the  government  of  Ireland  in  his  own 
hands.  But  his  efforts  were  not  necessary.  The  inso- 
lence of  the  courtiers,  and  the  folly  of  the  youth  himself, 
were  quite  sufficient  to  ruin  more  promising  prospects. 
In  addition  to  other  outrages,  the  Irish  had  seen  their  few 
remaining  estates  bestowed  upon  the  new  comers ;  and 
even  the  older  Anglo-Norman  and  Welsh  settlers  were 
expelled  to  make  room  for  the  prince's  favorites  —  an 
instalment  of  the  fatal  policy  which  made  them  event- 
ually "  more  Irish  than  the  Irish."  When  the  colony 
was  on  the  verge  of  ruin,  the  young  prince  returned  to 
England.  He  threw  the  blame  of  his  failure  on  Hugh  de 
Lacy  ;  but  the  Norman  knight  did  not  live  long  enough 


184 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


after  to  suffer  from  the  accusation.  De  Lacy  was  killed 
while  inspecting  a  castle  which  he  had  just  built  on  the 
site  of  St.  Columbkille's  monastery  at  Durrow,  in  the 
Queen's  County.  He  was  accompanied  by  three  Eng- 
lishmen ;  as  he  was  in  the  act  of  stooping,  a  youth  of 
an  ancient  and  noble  family,  named  O'Meyey,  gave  him 
his  death-blow,  severed  his  head  from  his  body,  and  then 
fled  with  such  swiftness  as  to  elude  pursuit.  It  is  said 
that  he  was  instigated  to  perform  this  deed  by  Sumagh 
O'Caharnay  (the  Fox),  with  whom  he  now  took  refuge. 

The  Annals  mention  this  as  a  "revenge  of  Columb- 
kille  ;  "  they  also  say  that  "  all  Meath  was  full  of  his 
English  castles,  from  the  Shannon  to  the  sea.;;  Henry 
at  once  appointed  his  son  John  to  the  Irish  viceroyalty, 
but  domestic  troubles  prevented  his  plans  from  being 
carried  out.  Archbishop  Comyn  held  a  synod  in  Dub- 
lin during  this  year,  1187  ;  and  on  the  9th  of  June  the 
relics  of  SS.  Patrick,  Columba,  and  Brigid  were  discov- 
ered, and  solemnly  entombed  anew  under  the  direction 
of  cardinal  Vivian,  who  came  to  Ireland  to  perform  this 
function.  During  the  year  1198  the  Irish  continued  their 
usual  fatal  and  miserable  dissensions  ;  still  they  contrived 
to  beat  the  common  enemy,  and  O'Muldony  drove  De 
Courcy  and  his  troops  from  Ballysadare.  He  was  again 
attacked  in  crossing  the  Curlieu  Mountains,  and  escaped 
to  Leinster  with  considerable  loss  and  difficulty. 

In  1189  Henry  II.  died  at  Chinon,  in  Normandy.  He 
expired  launching  anathemas  against  his  sons,  and  espec- 
ially against  John,  as  he  had  just  discovered  that  he 
had  joined  those  who  conspired  against  him.  In  his  last 
moments  he  was  stripped  of  his  garments  and  jewels, 
and  left  naked  and  neglected. 

During  the  reign  of  Richard  I.  all  the  public  affairs  of 
the  Anglo-Norman  colony  were  transacted  in  the  name 
of  "  John,  lord  of  Ireland,  earl  of  Montague."  But  Pal- 
grave  observes  that  John  never  claimed  to  be  king  of 
the  Irish,  just  as  Edward  wrote  himself  simply  lord  of 
Scotland,  and  acknowledged  Baliol  to  be  king  of  the 
Scots. 

Richard  was  too  much  occupied  about  foreign  affairs 
to  attend  to  his  own  kingdom.  He  was  a  brave  soldier, 
and  as  such  merits  our  respect ;  but  he  can  scarcely  be 
credited  as  a  wise  king.    Irish  affairs  were  committed  to 


ACCESSION  OF  KING  JOHN. 


185 


the  care  of  -John,  who  does  not  appear  to  have  profited 
by  his  former  experience.  He  appointed  Hugh  de  Lacy 
lord  justice,  to  the  no  small  disgust  of  John  de  Oourcy  ; 
but  it  was  little  matter  to  whom  the  government  of  that 
unfortunate  country  was  confided.  There  were  nice  dis- 
tinctions made  about  titles,  but  there  were  no  nice 
distinctions  about  property ;  for  the  rule  seemed  to  be, 
that  whoever  could  get  it  should  have  it,  and  whoever 
could  keep  it  should  possess  it. 

In  1189  Rodericks  son,  Connor  Moinmoy,  fell  a  victim 
to  a  conspiracy  of  his  own  chieftains, —  a  just  retribution 
for  his  rebellion  against  his  father.  He  had,  however, 
the  reputation  of  being  brave  and  generous.-  At  his 
death,  Connaught  was  once  more  plunged  into  civil  war, 
and,  after  some  delay  and  difficulty,  Roderic  resume^  the 
government.  In  1192  the  brave  king  of  Thomond  again 
attacked  the  English  invaders.  But,  after  his  death,  in 
1194,  the  Anglo-Normans  had  little  to  apprehend  from 
native  valor.  His  obituary  is  thus  recorded  :  "  Donnell, 
son  of  Turlough  O'Brien,  king  of  Munster,  a  burning 
lamp  in  peace  and  war,  and  the  brilliant  star  of  the 
hospitality  and  valor  of  the  Momonians,  and  of  all  Leth- 
Mogha,  died."  Several  other  " lamps"  went  out  at 
this  period;  one  of  these  was  Crunce  (VFlynn,  who  had 
defeated  De  Courcy  in  1178,  and  O'Carroll,  prince  of 
Oriel,  who  had  been  hanged  by  the  English  the  year 
before,  after  the  very  unnecessary  cruelty  of  putting 
out  his  eyes. 

The  affairs  of  the  English  colony  were  not  more  pros- 
perous. New  lords  justices  followed  each  other  in  quick 
succession.  One  of  these  governors,  Hamon  de  Valois, 
attempted  to  replenish  his  coffers  from  church  property, 
—  a  proceeding  which  provoked  the  English  archbishop 
Comyn.  As  this  ecclesiastic  failed  to  obtain  redress  in 
Ireland,  he  proceeded  to  England  with  his  complaints ; 
but  he  could  not  obtain  a  hearing.  After  an  appeal  in 
person  to  king  Richard  and  prince  John,  he  was  placed 
in  confinement  in  Normandy,  and  only  released  by  the 
interference  of  the  Holy  See. 

John  ascended  the  English  throne  in  1199.  He  ap- 
pointed Meiller  Fitzllenri  governor  of  Ireland.  It  has 
been  conjectured  that  if  John  had  not  obtained  the  sove- 
reignty, he  and  his  descendants  might  have  claimed  the 


186 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


"  Lordship  of  Ireland."  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  he 
and  they  might  have  claimed  it ;  but  whether  they  could 
have  held  it  is  quite  another  consideration.  It  is  gen- 
erally worse  than  useless  to  speculate  on  what  might 
have  been.  In  this  case,  however,  we  may  decide  with 
positive  certainty,  that  no  such  condition  of  things  could 
have  continued  long.  The  English  kings  would  have 
looked  with  jealousy  even  on  the  descendants  of  their 
ancestors,  if  they  kept  possession  of  the  island  ;  and  the 
descendants  would  have  become,  as  invariably  happened, 
Hibernis  ipsis  Hibernior,  and  therefore  would  have  shared 
the  fate  of  the  "  common  enemy. " 

Meanwhile  the  O'Connors  were  fighting  in  Kerry. 
Cathal  Oarragh  obtained  the  services  of  FitzAldelm,  and 
expelled  Cathal  Crovderg.  He,  in  his  turn,  sought  the 
assistance  of  Hugh  O'Neill,  who  had  been  distinguish- 
ing himself  by  his  valor  against  De  Courcy  and  the  Eng- 
lish. They  marched  into  Connaaght,  but  were  obliged 
to  retreat  with  great  loss.  The  exiled  prince  now  sought 
English  assistance,  and  easily  prevailed  on  De  Courcy 
and  young  De  Lacy  to  help  him.  But  misfortune  still 
followed  him.  His  army  was  again  defeated  ;  and  as 
it  fled  to  the  peninsula  of  Rindown,  on  Lough  Ree,  it 
was  so  closely  hemmed  in,  that  no  way  of  escape  re- 
mained, except  to  cross  the  lake  in  boats.  In  attempt- 
ing to  do  this  a  great  number  were  drowned.  The  An- 
nals of  Kilronan  and  Clonmacnois  enter  these  events 
under  the  year  1200  ;  the  Four  Masters  under  the  year 
1199.  The  former  state  that  "  C  ah  all  Carragh  was  taken 
deceitfully  by  the  English  of  Meath,"  and  imprisoned 
until  he  paid  a  ransom;  and  that  De  Courcy,  "  after 
slaying  of  his  people,"  returned  to  Ulster. 

Cathal  Crovderg  now  obtained  the  assistance  of  the 
lord  justice  who  plundered  Clonmacnois.  He  also  pur- 
chased the  services  of  FitzAldelm,  and  thus  deprived  his 
adversary  of  his  best  support.  The  English,  like  the 
mercenary  troops  of  Switzerland  and  the  Netherlands, 
appear  to  have  changed  sides  with  equal  alacrity,  when 
it  suited  their  convenience  ;  for,  if  they  were  well  paid, 
it  mattered  little  to  them  against  whom  they  turned  their 
arms.  In  1201  Cathal  Crovderg  marched  from  Limerick 
to  Roscommon,  with  his  new  ally  and  the  sons  of  Don- 
nell  O'Brien  and  Florence  MacCarthy.    They  took  up 


DOWNFALL  OF  DE  COURCY. 


18T 


their  quarters  at  Boyle,  and  occupied  themselves  in  wan- 
tonly desecrating  the  abbey.  Meanwhile,  Cathal  Car- 
ragh,  king  of  Connaught,  had  assembled  his  forces,  and 
came  to  give  them  battle.  Some  skirmishes  ensued, 
in  which  he  was  slain,  and  thus  the  affair  was  ended. 
FitzAldelm,  or  De  Burgo,  as  he  is  more  generally  called 
now,  assisted  by  0 'Flaherty  of  West  Connaught,  turned 
against  Oathal  when  they  arrived  at  Cong  to  spend  the 
Easter.  It  would  appear  that  the  English  were  billeted 
on  the  Irish  throughout  the  country  ;  and  when  De  Bur- 
go  demanded  wages  for  them,  the  Connacians  rushed 
upon  them  and  slew  six  hundred  men.  For  once  his 
rapacity  was  foiled,  and  he  marched  off  to  Munster  with 
such  of  his  soldiers  as  had  escaped  the  massacre.  Three 
years  after  he  revenged  himself  by  plundering  the  whole 
of  Connaught,  lay  and  ecclesiastical. 

During  this  period  Ulster  was  desolated  by  civil  war. 
Hugh  O'Neill  was  deposed,  and  Connor  O'Loughlin  ob- 
tained rule :  but  the  former  was  restored  after  a  few 
years. 

John  de  Courcy  appears  always  to  have  been  regarded 
with  jealousy  by  the  English  court.  His  downfall  was 
at  hand,  a.  d.  1204  ;  and  to  add  to  its  bitterness,  his  old 
enemies,  the  De  Lacys,  were  chosen  to  be  the  instruments 
of  his  disgrace.  It  is  said  that  he  had  given  mortal  of- 
fence to  John,  by  speaking  openly  of  him  as  a  usurper 
and  the  murderer  of  his  nephew ;  but  even  had  he  not 
been  guilty  of  this  imprudence,  the  state  he  kept,  and 
the  large  tract  of  country  which  he  held,  was  cause 
enough  for  his  ruin.  He  had  established  himself  at 
Downpatrick,  and  was  surrounded  in  almost  regal  state 
by  a  l  Ltiff  of  officers,  including  his  constable,  seneschal, 
and  chamberlain ;  he  even  coined  money  in  his  own 
name.  Complaints  of  his  exactions  were  carried  to  the 
king.  The  De  Lacys  accused  him  of  disloyalty.  In  1202 
the  then  viceroy,  Hugh  de  Lacy,  attempted  to  seize  him 
treacherously,  at  a  friendly  meeting.  He  failed  to  ac- 
complish this  base  design  ;  but  his  brother,  Walter,  suc- 
ceeded afterwards  in  a  similar  attempt,  and  De  Courcy 
was  kept  in  durance  until  the  devastations  which  his 
followers  committed  in  revenge  obliged  his  enemies  to 
release  him. 

In  1204  he  defeated  the  viceroy  in  a  battle  at  Down. 


188 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


lie  was  aided  in  this  by  the  O'Neills,  and  by  soldiers 
from  Man  and  the  Isles.  It  will  be  remembered  that  he 
could  always  claim  assistance  from  the  latter,  in  conse- 
quence of  his  connection  by  marriage.  But  this  did  not 
avail  him.  He  was  summoned  before  the  council  in 
Dublin,  and  some  of  his  possessions  were  forfeited. 
Later  in  the  same  year  (a.  d.  1204)  he  received  a  safe- 
conduct  to  proceed  to  the  king.  It  is  probable  that  he 
was  confined  in  the  Tower  of  London  for  some  time  ; 
but  it  is  now  certain  that  he  revisited  Ireland  in  1210, 
if  not  earlier,  in  the  service  of  John,  who  granted  him 
an  annual  pension.1  It  is  supposed  that  he  died  about 
1219  ;  for  in  that  year  Henry  III.  ordered  his  widow, 
Affreca,  to  be  paid  her  dower  out  of  the  lands  which  her 
late  husband  had  possessed  in  Ireland. 

Cambrensis  states  that  De  Courcy  had  no  children  ; 
but  the  barons  of  Kinsale  claim  to  be  descended  from 
him  ;  and  even  so  late  as  1821  they  exercised  the  privi- 
lege of  appearing  covered  before  George  IV. — a  favor 
said  to  have  been  granted  to  De  Courcy  by  king  John, 
after  his  recall  from  Ireland — as  a  reward  for  his  prowess. 
Dr.  Smith  states,  in  his  History  of  Cork,  that  Miles  de 
Courcy  was  a  hostage  for  his  father  during  the  time 
when  he  was  permitted  to  leave  the  Tower  to  fight  the 
French  champion.  In  a  pedigree  of  the  MacCarthys  of 
Cooraun  Lough,  county  Kerry,  a  daughter  of  Sir  John 
de  Courcy  is  mentioned.  The  Irish  annalists,  as  may 
be  supposed,  were  not  slow  to  attribute  his  downfall  to 
his  crimes. 

Another  English  settler  died  about  this  period,  and 
received  an  equal  share  of  reprobation  ;  this  was  Fitz- 
Aldelm,  more  commonly  known  as  Mac  William  Burke 

1  One  hundred  pounds  per  annum.  Orders  concerning  it  are  still 
extant  on  the  Close  Rolls  of  England.— Rot.  Lit.  Clau.  1833,  144.  It  is 
curious,  and  should  be  carefully  noted,  how  constantly  proofs  are  ap- 
pearing that  the  Irish  bards  and  chroniclers,  from  the  earliest  to  the 
latest  period,  were  most  careful  as  to  the  truth  of  their  facts,  though 
they  may  have  sometimes  colored  them  highly.  Dr.  O'Donovan  has 
devoted  some  pages  in  a  note  (Four  Masters,  vol.  iii.  p.  139)  to  the 
Tales  in  the  Book  of  Howth  which  record  the  exploits  of  De  Courcy, 
and  appeared  satisfied  that  they  were  "  invented  in  the  fifteenth  or 
sixteenth  century."  Yet  Mr.  Gilbert  has  since  ascertained  that  they 
were  placed  on  record  as  early  a3  1300,  in  Pembridge's  Annals.  As 
they  are  merely  accounts  of  personal  valor,  we  do  not  reproduce 
them  here.  He  also  gives  an  extract  from  Hoveden's  Annals,  p.  823, 
which  further  supports  the  Irish  account.  Rapin  gives  the  narrative 
as  history.  Indeed,  there  appears  nothing  very  improbable  about  it. 
The  Howth  family  were  founded  by  Sir  Almario  St.  Laurence,  who 
married  De  Gourcy's  sister, 


FEUDS  BETWEEN  DE  LACY  AND  MARISCO.  189 

(de  Burgo),  and  the  ancestor  of  the  Burke  family  in  Ire- 
land. 

King  John  was  now  obliged  to  interfere  between  his 
English  barons  in  Ireland,  who  appear  to  have  been 
quite  as  much  occupied  with  feuds  among  themselves  as 
the  native  princes.  In  1201  Philip  of  Worcester  and 
William  de  Braosfe  laid  waste  the  greater  part  of  Mun- 
ster  in  their  quarrels.  John  had  sold  the  lands  of  the 
former,  and  of  Theobald  Walter  to  the  latter,  for  four 
thousand  marks  — Walter  redeemed  his  property  for  five 
hundred  marks  ;  Philip  obtained  his  at  the  point  of  the 
sword.  De  Braose  had  large  property  both  in  Normandy 
and  in  England.  He  had  his  chancellor,  chancery,  and 
seal,  recognizances  of  all  pleas,  not  even  excepting 
those  of  the  crown,  with  judgment  of  life  and  limb.  His 
sons  and  daughters  had  married  into  powerful  families. 
His  wife  Matilda  was  notable  in  domestic  affairs,  and 
a  vigorous  oppressor  of  the  Welsh.  A  bloody  war  was 
waged  about  the  same  time  between  De  Lacy,  De  Mar- 
isco,  and  the  lord  justice.  Cathal  Crovderg  and  O'Brien 
aided  the  latter  in  besieging  Limerick,  while  some  of 
the  English  fortified  themselves  in  their  castles  and  plun- 
dered indiscriminately. 

In  1205  the  earldom  of  Ulster  was  granted  to  Hugh 
de  Lacy.  The  grant  is  inscribed  on  the  charter  roll 
of  the  seventh  year  of  king  John,  and  is  the  earliest 
record,  now  extant,  of  the  creation  of  an  Anglo-Norman 
dignity  in  Ireland.  England  was  placed  under  an  inter- 
dict in  1207,  in  consequence  of  the  violence  and  wick- 
edness of  its  sovereign.  He  procured  the  election  of 
John  de  Gray  to  the  see  of  Canterbury,  a  royal  favorite, 
and  if  only  for  this  reason,  unworthy  of  the  office. 
Another  party  who  had  a  share  in  the  election  chose 
Eeginald,  the  sub-prior  of  the  monks  of  Canterbury. 
But  when  the  choice  was  submitted  to  Pope  Innocent 
III.,  he  rejected  both  candidates,  and  fixed  on  an  Eng- 
lish cardinal,  Stephen  Langton,  who  was  at  once  elected, 
and  received  consecration  from  the  pope  himself.  John 
was  highly  indignant,  as  might  have  been  expected.  He 
swore  his  favorite  oath,  that  he  would  cut  off  the  nose 
and  pluck  out  the  eyes  of  any  priest  who  attempted  to 
carry  the  pope's  decrees  against  him  into  England.  But 
some  of  the  bishops,  true  to  their  God  and  the  Church, 


190 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


promulgated  the  interdict,  and  then  fled  to  France  to 
escape  the  royal  vengeance.  It  was  well  for  them  they 
did  so  ;  for  Geoffrey,  archdeacon  of  Norwich,  was  seized, 
and  enveloped,  by  the  royal  order,  in  a  sacerdotal  vest- 
ment of  massive  lead,  and  thus  thrown  into  prison,  where 
he  was  starved  to  death  beneath  the.  crushing  weight. 
It  was  an  age  of  violence,  and  men  seem  seldom  to  have 
considered  the  severity  of  the  punishments  they  inflicted 
on  others,  unless,  by  a  just  retribution,  they  were  them- 
selves subjected  to  similar  tortures.  It  was  centuries 
before  the  duty  of  considering  the  most  merciful  means 
of  repressing  crime  became  a  subject  of  consideration. 
But  we  have  not  yet  heard  all  the  refinements  of  cruelty 
which  this  same  monarch  exercised.  Soon  after,  John 
was  excommunicated  personally.  When  he  found  that 
Philip  of  France  was  prepared  to  seize  his  kingdom,  and 
that  his  crimes  had  so  alienated  him  from  his  own  peo- 
ple that  he  could  hope  for  little  help  from  them,  he 
cringed  with  the  craven  fear  so  usually  found  in  cruel 
men,  and  made  the  most  abject  submission.  In  the  inter- 
val between  the  proclamation  of  the  interdict  and  the 
fulmination  of  the  sentence  of  excommunication,  a.  d. 
1210,  John  visited  Ireland. 

He  extorted  money  for  the  expenses  of  his  journey 
from  the  Jews  at  Bristol,  and  landed  at  Crook,  near 
Waterford,  on  the  20th  June. 

A  quarter  of  a  century  had  elapsed  since  his  first  visit 
to  Ireland.  In  the  interval  he  had  grown  grey  in  prof- 
ligacy, but  he  had  not  grown  wiser  or  better  with  ad- 
vancing years.  His  army  wa§  commanded  by  the  earl 
of  Salisbury,  son  to  Henry  I.  by  Fair  Rosamond.  De 
Braose  fled  to  England  when  he  heard  of  the  king's 
movements.  Here  he  endeavored  to  make  peace  with 
his  master,  but  failing  to  do  so,  he  carefully  avoided  put- 
ting himself  in  his  power,  and  took  refuge  in  France.  His 
wife  was  not  so  fortunate.  After  John's  return  to  Eng- 
land, Matilda  and  her  son  were  seized  by  his  command, 
and  imprisoned  at  Corfe  Castle,  in  the  isle  of  Pembroke. 
Here  they  were  shut  up  in  a  room,  with  only  a  sheaf  of 
wheat  and  a  piece  of  raw  bacon  for  their  provision. 
When  the  prison  door  was  opened,  on  the  eleventh  day, 
they  were  both  found  dead. 

De  Lacy  also  fled  before  the  king's  visit ;  John  took 


PRINCE  JOHN  IN  IRELAND. 


191 


Carrickfergus  castle  from  his  people,  and  stationed  a 
garrison  of  his  own  there.  Several  Irish  princes  paid 
homage  to  him  ;  amongst  others,  we  find  the  names  of 
Cathal  Crovderg  and  Hugh  O'Neill.  The  Norman  lords 
were  also  obliged  to  swear  fealty,  and  transcripts  of 
their  oaths  were  placed  in  the  Irish  exchequer.  Ar- 
rangements were  also  made  for  the  military  support  of 
the  colony,  and  certain  troops  were  to  be  furnished  with 
forty  days'  ration  by  all  who  held  lands  by  "  knight's 
service."  The  Irish  princes  who  lived  in  the  southern 
and  western  parts  of  Ireland  appear  to  have  treated  the 
king  with  silent  indifference ;  they  could  afford  to  do 
so,  as  they  were  so  far  beyond  the  reach  of  his  ven- 
geance. 

John  remained  only  sixty  days  in  Ireland.  He  re- 
turned to  Wales  on  the  26th  of  August,  1210,  after  con- 
fiding the  government  of- the  colony  to  John  de  Grey, 
bishop  of  Norwich,  whose  predilection  for  secular  affairs 
had  induced  the  Holy  See  to  reject  his  nomination  to  the 
archbishopric  of  Canterbury.  The  most  important  act 
of  his  viceroyalty  was  the  erection  of  a  bridge  and  cas- 
tle at  Ath-Luain  (Athlone).  He  was  succeeded  in  1213 
by  Henry  of  London,  who  had  been  appointed  to  the 
see  of  Dublin  during  the  preceding  year.  This  prelate 
was  one  of  those  who  were  the  means  of  obtaining  Mag- 
na  Charta.  His  name  appears  second  on  the  list  of 
counsellors  who  advised  the  grant ;  and  he  stood  by  the 
king's  side,  at  Runnymede,  when  the  barons  obtained 
the  bulwark  of  English  liberty.  Indeed,  the  clergy  were 
the  foremost  to  demand  it,  and  the  most  persevering  in 
their  efforts  to  obtain  it. 

The  archbishop  was  now  sent  to  Rome  by  the  king  to 
plead  his  cause  there,  and  to  counteract,  as  best  he 
might,  the  serious  complaints  made  against  him  by  all  his 
subjects  —  a.  d.  1215.  In  1213  Walter  de  Lacy  obtained 
the  restoration  of  his  father's  property  in  Wales  and 
England.  Two  years  later  he  recovered  his  Irish  lands  ; 
but  the  king  retained  his  son,  Gislebert,  as  hostage,  and 
his  castle  of  Droicead-Atha  (Drogheda). 

The  Irish  chieftains  made  some  stand  for  their  rights 
at  the  close  of  this  reign.  Cormac  O'Melaghlin  wrested 
Delvin,  in  Meath,  from  the  English.  O'Neill  and  O'Don- 
nell  composed  their  difference  pro  tern.,  and  joined  in 


192 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


attacking  the  invaders.  In  the  south  there  was  a  war 
between  Dermod  and  Connor  Carthy,  in  which  the  An- 
glo-Normans joined,  and,  as  usual,  got  the  lion's  share, 
obtaining  such  an  increase  of  territory  as  enabled  them 
to  erect  twenty  new  castles  in  Cork  and  Kerry. 

The  Four  Masters  give  a  curious  story  under  the  year 
1213.  O'Donnell  More  sent  his  steward  to  Connaught 
to  collect  his  tribute.  On  his  way,  he  visited  the  poet 
Murray  O'Daly,  and  began  to  wrangle  with  him,  "  al- 
though his  lord  had  given  him  no  instructions  to  do  so." 
The  poet's  ire  was  excited.  He  killed  him  on  the  spot 
with  a  sharp  axe — an  unpleasant  exhibition  of  literary 
justice  —  and  then  fled  into  Clanrickarde  for  safety. 
O'Donnell  determined  to  revenge  the  insult,  until  Mac 
William  (William  de  Burgo)  submitted  to  him.  But  the 
poet  had  been  sent  to  seek  refuge  in  Thomond.  The 
chief  pursued  him  there  also,  and  laid  siege  to  Limer- 
ick. The  inhabitants  at  once  expelled  the  murderer, 
who  eventually  fled  to  Dublin.  After  receiving  tribute 
from  the  men  of  Connaught,  O'Donnell  marched  to  Dub- 
lin, and  compelled  the  people  to  banish  Murray  to  Scot- 
land. Here  he  remained  until  he  had  composed  three 
poems  in  praise  of  O'Donnell,  imploring  peace  and  for- 
giveness. He  was  then  pardoned,  and  so  far  received 
into  favor  as  to  obtain  a  grant  of  land  and  other  posses- 
sions. 

The  Irish  bishops  were,  as  usual,  in  constant  inter- 
course with  Rome.  Several  prelates  attended  the  fourth 
general  council  of  Lateran,  in  1215.  The  Annals  give 
the  obituaries  of  some  good  men,  whose  lives  redeemed 
the  age  from  the  character  for  barbarity,  which  its  sec- 
ular literature  would  seem  to  justify.  Amongst  these 
we  find  the  obituary  of  Catholicus  O'Duffy,  in  1201 ;  of 
TJaireirghe,  "  one  of  the  noble  sages  of  Clonmacnois,  a 
man  full  of  the  love  of  God  and  of  every  virtue  ;  of  Conn 
O'Melly,  bishop  of  Annaghdown,  "  a  transparently  bright 
gem  of  the  Church  ; "  of  Donnell  O'Brollaghan,  "  a 
prior,  a  noble  senior,  a  sage  illustrious  for  his  intelli- 
gence ;  "  and  of  many  others.  A  great  number  of  mon- 
asteries were  also  founded,  especially  by  the  Anglo-Nor- 
mans, who  appear  to  have  had  periodical  fits  of  piety 
after  periodical  temptations  to  replenish  their  coffers  out 
of  their  neighbors'  property. 


*  ACCESSION  OF  HENRY  in. 


193 


Henry  III.  succeeded  his  father,  John,  while  only  in 
his  tenth  year.  William  Marshal,  earl  of  Pembroke, 
was  appointed  protector  of  the  kingdom  and  the  king, 
The  young  monarch  was  hastily  crowned  at  Gloucester, 
with  but  little  of  the  usual  ceremony.  Had  the  wise 
and  good  earl  lived  to  administer  affairs  for  a  longer 
period,  it  would  have  been  a  blessing  to  both  countries. 
Geoffrey  de  Marisco  still  continued  governor  of  Ireland. 
Affairs  in  England  were  in  an  extremely  critical  position. 
The  profligate  Isabella  had  returned  to  her  first  husband, 
Hugh  of  Lusignan,  whom  she  had  before  forsaken  for 
king  John.  Gloucester,  London,  and  Kent,  were  in  the 
hands  of  the  Dauphin  of  France.  Some  few  acts  of  jus- 
tice to  Ireland  were  the  result ;  but  when  justice  is  only 
awarded  from  motives  of  fear  or  interest,  it  becomes 
worse  than  worthless  as  a  mode  of  conciliation.  Such 
justice,  however,  as  was  granted,  only  benefited  the  An- 
glo-Norman settlers  ;  the  "mere  Irish"  were  a  race 
devoted  to  plunder  and  extermination. 

In-  consequence  of  complaints  from  the  English  barons 
in  Ireland,  a  modified  form  of  Magna  Charta  was  granted 
to  them,  and  a  general  amnesty  was  proclaimed,  with 
special  promises  of  reparation  to  the  nobles  whom  John 
had  oppressed.  Hugh  de  Lacy  was  also  pardoned  and 
recalled  ;  but  it  was  specially  provided  that  the  Irish 
should  have  no  share  in  such  favors ;  and  the  viceroy 
was  charged  to  see  that  no  native  of  the  country  ob- 
tained cathedral  preferment.  This  piece  of  injustice  was 
annulled  through  the  interference  of  Pope  Honorius  III. 

In  1217  the  young  king,  or  rather  his  advisers,  sent 
the  archbishop  of  Dublin  to  that  city  to  levy  a  "  tallage  " 
or  tax  for  the  royal  benefit.  The  archbishop  and  the  jus- 
ticiary were  directed  to  represent  to  the  "Kings  of  Ire- 
land," and  the  barons  holding  direct  from  the  crown, 
that  their  liberality  would  not  be  forgotten  ;  but  neither 
the  politeness  of  the  address  nor  the  benevolence  of  the 
promise  were  practically  appreciated,  probably  because 
neither  were  believed  to  be  sincere,  and  the  king's  cof- 
fers were  not  much  replenished. 

Arrangements  were  now  made  defining  the  powers  of 
the  viceroy  or  justiciary.  The  earliest  details  on  the 
subject  are  embodied  in  an  agreement  between  Henry 
III.  and  Geoffrey  de  Marisco,  sealed  at  Oxford,  in  March 
9 


194 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


1220,  in  presence  of  the  papal  legate,  the  archbishop  of 
Dublin,  and  many  of  the  nobility. 

By  these  regulations  the  justiciary  was  bound  to  ac- 
count in  the  exchequer  of  Dublin  for  all  taxes  and  aids 
received  in  Ireland  for  the  royal  purse.  He  was  to  de- 
fray all  expenses  for  the  maintenance  of  the  king's  cas- 
tles and  lands  out  of  the  revenues.  In  fact,  the  people 
of  the  country  were  taxed,  either  directly  or  indirectly,  for 
the  support  of  the  invaders.  The  king's  castles  were  to 
be  kept  by  loyal  and  proper  constables,  who  were  obliged 
to  give  hostages.  Indeed,  so  little  faith  had  the  English 
kings  in  the  loyalty  of  their  own  subjects,  that  the  jus- 
ticiary himself  was  obliged  to  give  a  hostage  as  security 
for  his  own  behavior.  Neither  does  the  same  viceroy 
appear  to  have  benefited  trade,  for  he  is  accused  of  ex- 
acting wine,  clothing,  and  victuals,  without  payment, 
from  the  merchants  of  Dublin. 

In  1221  the  archbishop  of  Dublin,  Henry  of  London, 
was  made  governor.  He  obtained  the  name  of  "  Scorch 
Villain/'  from  having  cast  into  the  fire  the  leases  of  the 
tenants  of  his  see,  whom  he  had  cited  to  produce  these 
documents  in  his  court.  The  enraged  landholders  at- 
tacked the  attendants,  and  laid  hands  on  the  archbishop, 
who  was  compelled  to  do  them  justice,  from  fear  of  per- 
sonal violence.  When  such  was  the  mode  of  government 
adopted  by  English  officials,  we  can  scarcely  wonder  that 
the  people  of  Ireland  have  not  inherited  very  ardent  feel- 
ings of  loyalty  and  devotion  to  the  crown  and  constitu- 
tion of  that  country. 

Such  serious  complaints  were  made  of  the  unjust  gov- 
ernor, that  Henry  was  at  last  obliged  to  check  his  rapac- 
ity. Probably  he  was  all  the  more  willing  to  do  so,  in 
consequence  of  some  encroachments  on  the  royal  prerog- 
ative. 

After  the  death  of  the  earl  of  Pembroke,  who  had  ob- 
tained the  pardon  of  Hugh  de  Lacy,  a  feud  arose  between 
the  latter  and  the  son  of  his  former  friend.  In  conse- 
quence of  this  quarrel,  all  Meath  was  ravaged,  Hugh 
O'Neill  having  joined  De  Lacy  in  the  conflict. 

Some  of  the  Irish  chieftains  now  tried  to  obtain  pro- 
tection from  the  rapacity  of  the  Anglo-Norman  barons,  by 
paying  an  annual  stipend  to  the  crown  ;  but  the  crown, 
though  graciously  pleased  to  accept  anything  which 


CONNAUGHT  BESTOWED  ON  DE  BURGO.  195 

might  be  offered,  still  held  to  its  royal  prerogative  of 
disposing  of  Irish  property  as  appeared  most  convenient 
to  royal  interests.  Though  Cathal  Crovderg  had  made 
arrangements  with  Henry  III.,  at  an  immense  sacrifice, 
to  secure  his  property,  that  monarch  accepted  his  money, 
but,  nevertheless,  bestowed  the  whole  province  of  Con- 
naught  shortly  after  upon  Richard  de  Burgo. 

Crovderg  had  retired  into  a  Franciscan  monastery  at 
Knockmoy,  which  he  had  founded,  and  there  he  was 
interred  nobly  and  honorably.  After  his  death  there 
were  no  less  than  three  claimants  for  his  dignity.  De 
Burgo  claimed  it  in  right  of  the  royal  gift ;  Hugh  Cathal 
claimed  it  as  heir  to  his  father,  Crovderg;  Turlough 
claimed  it  for  the  love  of  fighting,  inherent  in  the  Celtic 
race  ;  and  a  general  guerilla  warfare  was  carried  on  by 
the  three  parties,  to  the  utter  ruin  of  each  individual. 
For  the  next  ten  years  the  history  of  the  country  is  the 
history  of  deadly  feuds  between  the  native  princes,  care- 
fully fomented  by  the  English  settlers,  whose  interest  it 
was  to  make  them  exterminate  each  other. 

The  quarrel  for  the  possession  of  Connaught  began  in 
the  year  1225.  The  Anglo-Normans  had  a  large  army 
at  Athlone,  and  Hugh  Cathal  went  to  claim  their  assist- 
ance. The  lord  justice  put  himself  at  the  head  of  the 
army  ;  they  marched  into  Connaught,  and  soon  became 
masters  of  the  situation.  Rodericks  sons  at  once  submit- 
ted, but  only  to  bide  their  time.  During  these  hostilities 
the  English  of  Desmond,  and  O'Brien,  a  Thomond  prince, 
assisted  by  the  Sheriff  of  Cork,  invaded  the  southern  part 
of  Connaught  for  the  sake  of  plunder.  In  the  previous 
year,  1224,  "the  corn  remained  unreaped  until  the  fes- 
tival of  St.  Brigid  (1st  Feb.),  when  the  ploughing  was 
going  on."  A  famine  also  occurred,  and  was  followed 
by  severe  sickness.  Well  might  the  friar  historian  ex- 
claim :  "  Woeful  was  the  misfortune  which  God  permit- 
ted to  fall  on  the  west  province  of  Ireland  at  that  time  ; 
for  the  young  warriors  did  not  spare  each  other,  but 
preyed  and  plundered  to  the  utmost  of  their  power. 
Women  and  children,  the  feeble  and  the  lowly  poor, 
perished  by  cold  and  famine  in  this  year." 

O'Neill  had  inaugurated  Turlough  at  Carnfree.  He 
appears  to  have  been  the  most  popular  claimant.  The 
northern  chieftains  then  returned  home.    As  soon  as 


196 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


the  English  left  Connaught,  Turlough  again  revolted. 
Hugh  Cathal  recalled  his  allies  ;  and  the  opposite  party, 
finding  their  cause  hopeless,  joined  him  in  such  numbers 
that  Rodericks  sons  fled  for  refuge  to  Hugh  O'Neill. 
The  Annals  suggest  that  the  English  might  well  respond 
when  called  on,  "  for  their  spirit  was  fresh,  and  their 
struggle  trifling. "  Again  we  find  it  recorded  that  the 
corn  remained  unreaped  until  after  the  festival  of  St. 
Brigid.  The  wonder  is,  not  that  the  harvest  was  not 
gathered  in,  but  that  there  was  any  harvest  to  gather. 

Soon  after  these  events,  Hugh  O'Connor  was  captured 
by  his  English  allies,  and  would  have  been  sacrificed  to 
their  vengeance  on  some  pretence,  had  not  earl  Marshall 
rescued  him  by  force  of  arms.  He  escorted  him  out  of 
the  court,  and  brought  him  safely  to  Connaught ;  but 
his  son  and  daughter  remained  in  the  hands  of  the  Eng- 
lish. Hugh  soon  found  an  opportunity  of  retaliating. 
A  conference  was  appointed  to  take  place,  near  Athlone, 
between  him  and  William  de  Marisco,  son  of  the  lord 
justice.  When  in  sight  of  the  English  knights,  the  Irish 
prince  rushed  on  William,  and  seized  him,  while  his 
followers  captured  his  attendants,  one  of  whom,  the 
constable  of  Athlone,  was  killed  in  the  fray.  Hugh  then 
proceeded  to  plunder  and  burn  the  town,  and  to  rescue 
his  son  and  daughter,  and  some  Connaught  chieftains. 

At  the  close  of  the  year  1227,  Turlough  again  took 
arms.  The  English  had  found  it  convenient  to  change 
sides,  and  assisted  him  with  all  their  forces.  Probably 
they  feared  the  brave  Hugh,  and  were  jealous  of  the  very 
power  they  had  helped  him  to  obtain.  Hugh  Roderic 
attacked  the  northern  districts,  with  Richard  de  Burgo. 
Turlough  Roderic  marched  to  the  peninsula  of  Rindown, 
with  the  viceroy.  Hugh  Crovderg  had  a  narrow  escape 
near  the  Curlieu  mountains,  where  his  wife  was  captured 
by  the  English.  The  following  year  he  appears  to  have 
been  reconciled  to  the  lord  deputy,  for  he  was  killed  in 
his  house  by  an  Englishman,  in  revenge  for  a  liberty  he 
had  taken  with  a  woman. 

After  the  death  of  Hugh  O'Connor,  the  brothers  who 
had  first  fought  against  him  now  began  to  fight  with 
each  other.  The  English  helped  to  foment  the  discord, 
on  the  principle  of  dividing  the  national  forces  as  the 
best  method  of  advancing  their  own  power.    The  lord 


FEUDS  OF  THE  IRISH  CHIEFTAINS. 


19T 


justice  took  part  with  Hugh,  the  younger  brother,  who 
was  supported  by  the  majority  of  the  Oonnaught  men, 
although  Turlough  had  already  been  inaugurated  by 
O'Neill.  A  third  competitor  now  started  up  ;  this  was 
Felim,  brother  to  Hugh  O'Connor.  Some  of  the  chief- 
tains declared  that  they  would  not  serve  a  prince  who 
acknowledged  English  rule,  and  obliged  Hugh  to  re- 
nounce his  allegiance.  But  this  question  was  settled 
with  great  promptitude.  Kichard  de  Burgo  took  the 
field,  desolated  the  country  —  if,  indeed,  there  was  any- 
thing left  to  desolate  —  killed  Donn  Oge  Mageraghty, 
their  bravest  champion,  expelled  Hugh,  and  proclaimed 
Felim. 

The  reign  of  this  prince  was  of  short  duration.  In 
1231  he  was  taken  prisoner  at  Meelick,  despite  the  most 
solemn  guarantees,  by  the  very  man  who  had  so  lately 
enthroned  him.  Hugh  was  reinstated,  but  before  the 
end  of  the  year  Felim  was  released.  He  now  assembled 
his  forces  again,  and  attacked  Hugh,  whom  he  killed, 
with  several  of  his  relations,  and  many  English  and  Irish 
chieftains.  His  next  exploit  was  to  demolish  the  castles 
of  Galway ;  Dunannon,  on  the  river  Suck,  Roscommon  ; 
Hag's  Castle,  on  Lough  Mask;  and  Castle  Rich,  on 
Lough  Corrib ;  all  of  which  had  been  erected  by  Rod- 
eric's  sons  and  their  English  allies.  But  the  tide  of  for- 
tune soon  turned.  The  invincible  De  Burgo  entered 
Oonnaught  once  more,  and  plundered  without  mercy. 
In  a  pitched  battle  the  English  gained  the  day,  princi- 
pally through  the  skill  of  their  cavalry  and  the  protec- 
tion of  their  coats-of-mail. 

Felim  fled  to  the  north,  and  sought  refuge  with  O'Don- 
nell  of  Tir-Connell.  O'Flaherty,  who  had  always  been 
hostile  to  Felim,  joined  the  English,  and,  by  the  help  of 
his  boats,  they  were  able  to  lay  waste  the  islands  of 
Clew  Bay.  Nearly  all  the  inhabitants  were  killed  or 
carried  off.  The  victorious  forces  now  laid  siege  to  a 
castle  on  the  rock  of  Lough  Key,  in  Roscommon,  which 
was  held  for  O'Connor  by  Mac  Dermod.  They  succeeded 
in  taking  it,  but  soon  lost  their  possession  by  the  quick- 
witted cleverness  of  an  Irish  soldier,  who  closed  the  gates 
on  them  when  they  set  out  on  a  plundering  expedition. 
The  fortress  was  at  once  demolished,  that  it  might  not 
fall  into  English  hands  again 


198 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


When  William  Pembroke  died,  a.  d.  1231 ,  he  be- 
queathed his  offices  and  large  estates  in  England  and  Ire- 
land to  his  brother,  Richard,  who  is  described  by  the 
chroniclers  as  a  model  of  manly  beauty.  Henry  III. 
prohihited  his  admission  to  the  inheritance,  and  charged 
him  with  treason.  The  earl  escaped  to  Ireland,  and 
took  possession  of  the  lands  and  castles  of  the  family, 
waging  war  upon  the  king  until  his  rights  were  acknowl- 
edged. In  1232  Henry  had  granted  the  justiciary  of 
England  and  of  Ireland,  with  other  valuable  privileges,  to 
Hubert  de  Burgo.  Earl  Richard  supported  him  against 
the  adventurers  from  Poitou  and  Bretagne,  on  whom 
the  weak  king  had  begun  to  lavish  his  favors.  The  Par- 
liament and  the  barons  remonstrated,  and  threatened  to 
dethrone  Henry,  if  he  persevered  in  being  governed  by 
foreigners.  And  well  they  might ;  for  one  of  these  needy 
men,  Pierre  de  Rivaulx,  had  obtained  a  grant  for  life  of 
nearly  every  office  and  emolument  in  Ireland ;  amongst 
others,  we  find  mention  of  "the  vacant  sees,  and  the 
Jews  in  Ireland/7  Henry  did  his  best  to  get  his  own 
views  carried  out ;  but  earl  Richard  leagued  with  the 
Welsh  princes,  and  expelled  the  intruders  from  the  towns 
and  castles  in  that  part  of  the  country. 

The  king's  foreign  advisers  determined  to  destroy  their 
great  enemy  as  speedily  as  possible.  Their  plan  was 
deeply  laid.  They  despatched  letters  to  Ireland,  signed 
by  twelve  privy  councillors,  requiring  the  viceroy  and 
barons  to  seize  his  castles,  bribing  them  with  a  promise 
of  a  share  in  his  lands.  The  wily  Anglo-Normans  de- 
manded a  charter,  specifying  which  portion  of  his  prop- 
erty each  individual  should  have.  They  obtained  the 
document,  signed  with  the  royal  seal,  which  had  been 
purloined  for  the  occasion  from  the  chancellor.  The 
Anglo-Normans  acted  with  detestable  dissimulation. 
Geoffrey  de  Marisco  tried  to  worm  himself  into  the  con- 
fidence of  the  man  on  whose  destruction  he  was  bent. 
On  the  1st  of  April,  1232,  a  conference  was  arranged  to 
take  place  on  the  Curragh  of  Kildare.  The  viceroy  was 
accompanied  by  De  Lac}',  De  Burgo,  and  a  large  num- 
ber of  soldiers  and  mercenaries.  The  earl  was  attended 
by  a  few  knights  and  the  false  De  Marisco.  He  declined 
to  comply  with  the  demands  of  the  barons,  who  refused  to 
restore  his  castles.    The  treacherous  De  Marisco  with- 


TREACHEROUS  DEATH  OF  THE  EARL  OF  PEMBROKE.  199 

drew  from  him  at  this  moment,  and  he  suddenly  found 
himself  overpowered  by  numbers.  With  the  thoughtful- 
ness  of  true  heroism,  he  ordered  some  of  his  attendants 
to  hasten  away  with  his  young  brother,  Walter.  Nearly 
all  his  retainers  had  been  bribed  to  forsake  him  in  the 
moment  of  danger  ;  and  now  that  the  few  who  obeyed 
his  last  command  were  gone,  he  had  to  contend  single- 
handed  with  the  multitude.  His  personal  bravery  was 
not  a  little  feared,  and  the  coward  barons,  who  were 
either  afraid  or  ashamed  to  attack  him  individually,  urged 
on  their  soldiers,  until  he  was  completely  surrounded. 
The  earl  laid  prostrate  six  of  his  foes,  clove  one  knight 
to  the  middle,  and  struck  off  the  hands  of  another,  before 
he  was  captured.  At  last  the  soldiers  aimed  at  the  feet 
of  his  spirited  steed,  until  they  were  cut  off,  and  by  this 
piece  of  cruelty  brought  its  rider  to  the  ground.  A 
treacherous  stab  from  behind,  with  along  knife,  plunged 
to  the  haft  in  his  back,  completed  the  bloody  work. 

The  earl  was  borne  off,  apparently  lifeless,  to  one  of 
his  own  castles,  which  had  been  seized  by  the  viceroy. 
It  is  said  that  even  his  surgeon  was  bribed  to  prevent 
his  recovery.  Before  submitting  his  wounds  to  the  nec- 
essary treatment,  he  prepared  for  death,  and  received  the 
last  sacraments.  He  died  peacefully,  clasping  a  crucifix, 
on  Palm  Sunday,  the  sixteenth  day  after  his  treacherous 
capture.  And  thus  expired  "the  flower  of  chivalry/' 
and  the  grandson  of  Strongbow,  the  very  man  to  whom 
England  owed  so  much  of  her  Irish  possessions. 

It  could  not  fail  to  be  remarked  by  the  Irish  annalists, 
that  the  first  Anglo-Norman  settlers  had  been  singularly 
unfortunate.  They  can  scarcely  be  blamed  for  suppos- 
ing that  these  misfortunes  were  a  judgment  for  their 
crimes.  Before  the  middle  of  this  century  (the  thirteenth) 
three  of  the  most  important  families  had  become  extinct. 
De  Lacy,  lord  of  Meath,  died  in  1241,  infirm  and  blind  ; 
his  property  was  inherited  by  his  grand-daughters,  in 
default  of  a  male  heir.  Pembroke  died  from  wounds 
received  at  a  tournament.  Walter,  who  succeeded  him, 
also  died  without  issue.  The  property  came  at  length 
to  Anselm,  a  younger  brother,  who  also  died  childless  ; 
and  it  was  eventually  portioned  out  among  the  females 
of  the  family. 

It  is  said  Henry  III.  expressed  deep  grief  when  he 


200 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


heard  of  earl  Richard's  unfortunate  end,  and  that  he  en- 
deavored to  have  restitution  made  to  the  family.  Geof- 
frey de  Marisco  was  banished.  His  son,  William,  con- 
spired against  the  king,  and  even  employed  an  assassin 
to  kill  him.  The  man  would  have  probably  accomplished 
his  purpose,  had  he  not  been  discovered  accidentally  by 
one  of  the  queen's  maids,  hid  under  the  straw  of  the 
royal  bed.  The  real  traitor  was  eventually  captured, 
drawn  at  horses'  tails  to  London,  and  hanged  with  the 
usual  barbarities. 

His  miserable  father,  who  had  been  thrice  viceroy  of 
Ireland,  and  a  peer  of  that  country  and  of  England,  died 
in  exile,  {i  pitifully,  yet  undeserving  of  pity,  for  his  own 
treason  against  the  unfortunate  earl  Hi  chard,  and  his 
son's  treason  against  the  king."  Such  were  the  men 
who  governed  Ireland  in  the  thirteenth  century. 

Treachery  seems  to  have  been  the  recognized  plan  of 
capturing  an  enemy.  In  1236  this  method  was  attempted 
by  the  government,  in  order  to  get  Felim  O'Connor  into 
their  power.  He  was  invited  to  attend  a  meeting  in 
Athlone,  but,  fortunately  for  himself,  he  discovered  the 
designs  of  his  enemies  soon  enough  to  effect  his  escape. 
He  was  pursued  to  Sligo.  From  thence  he  fled  to  Tir- 
Connell,  which  appears  to  have  been  the  Cave  of  Adullam 
at  that  period  ;  though  there  were  so  many  discontented 
persons,  and  it  was  so  difficult  to  know  which  party  any 
individual  would  espouse  continuously,  that  the  Adul- 
lamites  were  tolerably  numerous.  Turlough's  son,  Brian 
O'Connor,  was  now  invested  with  the  government  of 
Connaught  by  the  English,  until  some  more  promising 
candidate  should  appear.  But  even  their  support  failed 
to  enable  him  to  keep  the  field.  Felim  returned  the 
following  year,  and,  after  defeating  the  soldiers  of  the 
lord  justice,  made  Brian's  people  take  to  flight  so  effect- 
ually, that  none  of  Roderic's  descendants  ever  again 
attempted  even  to  possess  their  ancestral  lands. 

The  Four  Masters  have  the  following  graphic  entry 
under  the  year  1236  :  "  Heavy  rains,  harsh  weather,  and 
much  war  prevailed  in  this  year."  The  Annals  of  Kilro- 
nan  also  give  a  fearful  account  of  the  wars,  the  weather, 
and  the  crimes.  They  mention  that  Brian's  people  burned 
the  church  of  Imlagh  Brochada  over  the  heads  of 
O'Flynn's  people,  while  it  was  full  of  women,  children, 


CATTLE  RAIDS. 


201 


and  nuns,  and  had  three  priests  in  it,  There  were  so 
many  raids  on  cows,  that  the  unfortunate  animals  must 
have  had  a  miserable  existence.  How  a  single  cow 
survived  the  amount  of  driving  hither  and  thither  they  en- 
dured, considering  their  natural  love  of  ease  and  contem- 
plative habits,  is  certainly  a  mystery.  In  the  year  1238, 
the  Annals  mention  that  the  English  erected  castles  in 
Connaught,  principally  in  the  territory  from  which  the 
O'Flahertys  had  been  expelled.  This  family,  however, 
became  very  powerful  in  that  part  of  the  country  in 
which  they  now  settled. 

As  Connaught  had  been  fairly  depopulated,  and  its 
kings  and  princes  nearly  annihilated,  the  English  turned 
their  attention  to  Ulster,  where  they  wished  to  carry  out 
the  same  policy.  The  lord  justice  and  Hugh  de  Lacy 
led  an  army  thither,  and  deposed  MacLoughlin,  giving 
the  government  to  O'Neill's  son ;  but  MacLoughlin  ob- 
tained rule  again,  after  a  battle  fought  the  following  year 
at  Carnteel. 

In  1240  the  king  of  Connaught  went  to  England  to 
complain  personally  of  De  Burgo's  oppressions  and 
exactions  ;  but  his  mission,  as  might  be  expected,  was 
fruitless,  although  he  was  received  courteously,  and  the 
king  wrote  to  the  lord  justice  "  to  pluck  out  by  the  root 
that  fruitless  sycamore,  De  Burgo,  which  the  earl  of 
Kent,  in  the  insolence  of  his  power,  hath  planted  in 
these  parts.' 1  However,  we  find  that  Henry  was  thank- 
ful to  avail  himself  of  the  services  of  the  "  fruitless  syc- 
amore "  only  two  years  after,  in  an  expedition  against 
the  king  of  France.  He  died  on  the  voyage  to  Bordeaux, 
and  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  Walter.  In  1241  More 
O'Donnell,  lord  of  Tir-Connell,  died  in  Assaroe,  in  the 
monastic  habit.  In  1244  Felim  O'Connor,  and  some  Irish 
chieftains  accompanied  the  then  viceroy,  Fitzgerald,  to 
Wales,  where  Henry  had  requested  their  assistance. 

The  king  was  nearly  starved  out,  the  Irish  reinforce- 
ments were  long  in  comingover,  and  the  delay  was  visited 
on  the  head  of  the  unfortunate  justiciary,  who  was  de- 
prived of  his  office.  John  de  Marisco  was  appointed  in 
his  place. 

In  1257  there  was  a  fierce  conflict  between  the  Irish, 
under  Godfrey  O'Donnell,  and  the  English,  commanded 
by  Maurice  FitzGerald.  The  conflict  took  place  at  Cread- 


202 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


rankille,  near  Sligo.  The  leaders  engaged  in  single 
combat,  and  were  both  severely  wounded :  eventually 
the  invaders  were  defeated  and  expelled  from  Lower 
Connaught.  Godfrey's  wound  prevented  him  from  fol- 
lowing up  his  success,  and  soon  after  the  two  chieftains 
died.  The  death  of  O'Donnell  is'  a  curious  illustration 
of  the  spirit  of  the  times.  During  his  illness,  Brian 
O'Neill  sent  to  demand  hostages  from  the  Cinel-Connaill. 
The  messengers  fled  the  moment  they  had  fulfilled  their 
commission.  For  all  reply,  O'Donnell  commanded  his 
people  to  assemble,  to  place  him  on  his  bier,  and  to  bear 
him  forth  at  their  head.  And  thus  they  met  the  enemy. 
The  battle  took  place  on  the  banks  of  the  river  Swilly, 
in  Donegal.  O'Donnell's  army  conquered.  The  hero's 
bier  was  laid  down  in  the  street  of  a  little  village  at  Con- 
nal,  near  Letterkenny,  and  there  he  died. 

O'Neill  again  demanded  hostages  ;  but  while  the  men 
deliberated  what  answer  they  should  give,  Donnell  Oge 
returned  from  Scotland,  and  though  he  was  but  a  youth 
of  eighteen,  he  was  elected  chieftain.  The  same  year  the 
long-disused  title  of  Monarch  of  Ireland  was  conferred 
upon  O'Neill  by  some  of  the  Irish  kings.  After  a  con- 
ference at  Caol  Uisge,  O'Neill  and  O'Connor  turned  their 
forces  against  the  English,  and  a  battle  was  fought  near 
Downpatrick,  where  the  Irish  were  defeated.  O'Neill 
was  killed,  with  fifteen  of  the  O'Kanes  and  many  other 
chieftains,  a.  d.  1260.  The  English  were  commanded  by 
the  then  viceroy,  Stephen  Longespe,  who  was  murdered 
soon  after  by  his  own  people. 

In  the  south  the  English  suffered  a  severe  reverse. 
The  Geraldines  were  defeated  by  Connor  O'Brien  in  Tho- 
mond,  and  ^gain  at  Kilgarvan,  near  Kenmare,  by  Fineen 
MacCarthy.  The  Annals  of  Innisfallen  give  long  details 
of  this  engagement,  the  site  of  which  is  still  pointed  out 
by  the  country  people.  John  FitzThomas,  the  founder 
of  the  Dominican  monastery  at  Tralee,  was  killed.  The 
MacCarthys  immediately  proceeded  to  level  all  the  cas- 
tles which  had  been  erected  by  the  English  ;  they  were 
very  numerous  in  that  district.  Soon  after,  the  hero  of 
the  fight  was  killed  himself  by  the  De  Courcys. 

After  the  defeat  narrated  above,  Hanmer  says,  "  the 
Geraldines  dared  not  put  a  plough  into  the  ground  in 
Desmond."    The  next  year,  1262,  Mac  William  Burke 


NEW  ROSS  FORTIFIED. 


203 


marched  with  a  great  army  as  far  as  Elphin.  He  was 
joined  by  the  lord  justice  and  John  de  Verdun.  They 
marked  out  a  place  for  a  castle  at  Roscommon,  and  plun- 
dered all  that  remained  after  Hugh  O'Connor  in  Con- 
$  naught.  He,  in  his  turn,  counterburned  and  plundered 
so  successfully,  that  the  English  were  glad  to  ask  for 
peace.  The  result  was  a  conference  at  the  ford  of  Doire- 
Chuire.  A  peace  was  concluded,  after  which  Hugh 
O'Connor  and  Mac  William  Burke  slept  together  in  the 
one  bed,  cheerfully  and  happily  ;  and  the  English  left  the 
country  on  the  next  day,  after  bidding  farewell  to  O'Con- 
nor. 

After  this  fraternal  demonstration,  Burke  led  an  army 
into  Desmond,  and  an  engagement  took  place  with  Mac- 
Carthy  on  the  side  of  Mangerton  mountain,  where  both 
English  and  Irish  suffered  great  losses.  Gerald  Roche, 
who  was  said  to  be  the  third  best  knight  of  his  time 
in  Ireland,  was  slain  by  MacCarthy.  Burke  was  soon 
after  created  earl  of  Ulster.  He  and  FitzGerald  waged 
war  against  each  other  in  1264,  and  desolated  the  coun- 
try with  their  raids.  The  lord  justice  sided  with  Fitz- 
Gerald, who  succeeded  in  taking  all  Burke's  castles  in 
Connaught. 

The  quarrels  of  the  invaders  now  became  so  general 
that  even  the  lord  justice  was  seized  at  a  conference  by 
FitzMaurice  FitzGerald,  and  was  detained  prisoner,  with 
several  other  nobles,  for  some  time.  During  the  wars 
between  De  Burgo  (or  Burke)  and  FitzGerald,  the  good 
people  of  Ross  threateneed  to  defend  their  town  from 
all  invaders  ;  and  to  effect  this  purpose  the  council  com- 
manded all  the  citizens  to  assist  in  erecting  the  neces- 
sary fortifications.  Even  the  ladies  and  clergy  took 
part  in  the  works,  which  were  soon  and  successfully  com- 
pleted. 

An  Anglo-Norman  poet  commemorated  this  event  in 
verse,  and  celebrates  the  fame  of  Rose,  a  lady  who  con- 
tributed largely  to  the  undertaking,  both  by  her  pres- 
ence.and  her  liberal  donations.  He  informs  us  first  of 
the  reason  for  this  undertaking.  It  was  those  two 
troublesome  knights,  "  sire  Morice  e  sire  Wauter,"  who 
would  not  permit  the  world  to  be  at  peace.  He  assures 
us  that  the  citizens  of  New  Ross  were  most  anxious  for 
peace,  because  they  were  merchants,  and  had  an  exten- 


204 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


sive  trade,  which  was  quite  true  ;  but  he  adds  that  they 
were  determined  to  defend  their  rights  if  attacked,  which 
was  also  true. 

Felim  O'Connor  died  in  1265.  The  Pour  Masters  give  ' 
his  obituary  thus  :  "  Felim,  son  of  Cathal  Crovderg  * 
O'Connor,  the  defender  and  supporter  of  his  own  prov- 
ince, and  of  his  friends  on  every  side,  the  expeller  and 
plunderer  of  his  foes  ;  a  man  full  of  hospitality,  prowess, 
and  renown  ;  the  exalter  of  the  clerical  orders  and  men  of 
science  ;  a  worthy  materies  (sic)  of  a  king  of  Ireland  for 
his  nobility,  personal  shape,  heroism,  wisdom,  clemency, 
and  truth ;  died,  after  the  victory  of  unction  and  pen- 
ance, in  the  monastery  of  the  Dominican  friars  at  Ros- 
common, which  he  had  himself  granted  to  God  and  that 
order." 

He  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  Hugh,  "  who  committed 
his  regal  depredation  in  Offaly."  It  appears  to  have 
been  considered  a  customary  thing  for  a  new  sovereign 
to  signalize  himself,  as  soon  as  possible,  by  some  dis- 
play of  this  description.  He  succeeded  so  well  in  this 
same  depredation,  that  the  lord  justice  was  alarmed,  and 
came  to  assist  De  Burgo.  The  latter  proposed  a  confer- 
ence at  Carrick-on-Shannon ;  but  Hugh  O'Connor  sus- 
pected treachery,  and  contrived  to  get  the  earl's  brother, 
William  Oge,  into  his  hands  before  the  conference  com- 
menced. The  earl  "  passed  the  night  in  sadness  and  sor- 
row." At  daybreak  a  fierce  conflict  ensued.  Turlough 
O'Brien,  who  was  coming  to  assist  the  Connacians,  was 
met  on  his  way,  and  slain  in  single  combat  by  De  Burgo. 
But  his  death  was  fearfully  avenged  ;  great  numbers  of 
the  English  were  slain,  and  immense  spoils  were  taken 
from  them.  De  Burgo  died  the  following  year,  in  Gal- 
way  castle,  after  a  short  illness,  a.  d.  1271. 


DEATH  OF  HENRY  III. 


205 


JHAPTER  XIV. 

A.  D.127I  TO  A.D.  1367. 

THE  BURKES  AND  THE  GERALDINES. —  BRUCE  IN- 
VADES IRELAND. —  THE  STATUTE  OE  KILKENNY 
AND  ITS  EFEECTS. 

Contemporary  Events  :— Rodolph  of  Hapsburg  Emperor  of  Germany 
—The  Sicilian  Vespers— Wales  annexed  to  England  —  Robert 
Bruce  crowned  King  of  Scotland  —  Knights  Templars  established 
—  Murder  of  Edward  II.— Benedict  XII.  Pope  — Edward  III.  in- 
vades France— Battles  of  Crecy  and  Poictiers— Wickliflfe  preaches 
in  England. 

The  Anglo-Normans  had  now  held  possession  of  a 
small  portion  of  Ireland  for  nearly  a  century.  But  their 
rule  had  not  been  beneficial  either  to  themselves  or  to 
the  Irish.  The  latter,  already  but  too  willing  to  engage 
in  petty  wars  with  each  other,  had  a  new  opportunity 
of  exercising  this  propensity.  The  former  never  made 
•  themselves  sufficiently  popular  to  secure  the  affections 
of  the  people,  and  hence  were  obliged  to  suffer  all  the 
disadvantages  of  living  in  a  continual  state  of  apprehen- 
sion. 

Henry  III.  died  in  12T2,  after  a  reign  of  fifty-six 
years.  He  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  Edward  I.,  who 
was  in  the  Holy  Land  at  the  time  of  his  father's  death. 
In  1257  his  father  had  made  him  a  grant  of  Ireland,  with 
the  express  condition  that  it  should  not  be  separated 
from  England.  It  would  appear  as  if  there  had  been 
some  apprehensions  of  such  an  event  since  the  time  of 
prince  John.  The  English  monarchs  apparently  wished 
the  benefit  of  English  laws  to  be  extended  to  the  native 
population,  but  their  desire  was  invariably  frustrated  by 
such  of  their  nobles  as  had  obtained  grants  of  land  in 
Ireland,  and  whose  object  appears  to  have  been  the  ex- 


206 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


termination,  or,  if  this  was  not  possible,  the  depression 
of  the  Irish  race. 

Ireland  was,  at  this  time,  convulsed  by  domestic 
dissensions.  Sir  Robert  D'Ufford,  the  justiciary,  was 
accused  of  fomenting  the  discord  ;  but  he  appears  to 
have  considered  that  he  only  did  his  duty  to  his  royal 
master.  When  sent  for  into  England  to  account  for  his 
conduct,  he  "  satisfied  the  king  that  all  was  not  true 
that  he  was  charged  withal ;  and  for  further  content- 
ment yielded  this  reason,  that  in  policy  he  thought  it 
expedient  to  wink  at  one  knave  cutting  off  another,  and 
that  would  save  the  king's  coffers,  and  purchase  peace 
to  the  land.  Whereat  the  king  smiled,  and  bid  him 
return  to  Ireland. "  The  saving  was  questionable  ;  for 
to  prevent  an  insurrection  by  timely  concession,  is  incom- 
parably less  expensive  than  to  suppress  it  when  it  has 
arisen.  The  "purchase  of  peace"  was  equally  vision- 
ary ;  for  the  Irish  never  appear  to  have  been  able  to  sit 
down  quietly  under  unjust  oppression,  however  hopeless 
resistance  might  be. 

As  the  viceroys  were  allowed  a  handsome  income, 
they  were  naturally  anxious  to  keep  their  post.  The 
first  mention  of  salary  is  that  granted  to  Geoffrey  de 
Marisco.  By  letters  patent,  dated  at  Westminster,  July 
4th,  1226,  he  was  allowed  an  annual  stipend  of  580Z. 
This  was  a  considerable  sum  for  times  when  wheat  was 
only  2s.  a  quarter,  fat  hogs  2s.  each,  and  French  wine  2s. 
a  gallon. 

Hugh  O'Connor  renewed  hostilities  in  1272,  by  de- 
stroying the  English  castle  of  Roscommon.  He  died  soon 
after,  and  his  successor  had  but  brief  enjoyment  of  his 
dignity.  In  1277  a  horrible  act  of  treachery  took  place, 
which  the  unfortunate  Irish  specially  mention  in  their 
remonstrance  to  Pope  John  XXII.,  as  a  striking  instance 
of  the  double-dealing  of  the  English  and  the  descendants 
of  the  Anglo-Normans  then  in  Ireland.  Thomas  de 
Clare  obtained  a  grant  of  Thomond  from  Edward  I.  It 
had  already  been  secured  to  its  rightful  owners,  the 
O'Briens,  who  probably  paid,  as  was  usual,  an  immense 
fine  for  liberty  to  keep  their  own  property.  The  English 
earl  knew  he  could  only  obtain  possession  by  treachery  ; 
he  therefore  leagued  with  Roe  O'Brien,  "so  that  they 
entered  into  gossipred  with  each  other,  and  took  vows 


TREACHERY  OF  EARL  DE  CLARE. 


20T 


by  bells  and  relics  to  retain  mutual  friendship  ;  "  or,  as 
the  Annals  of  Clonmacnois  have  it,  "  they  swore  to  each 
other  all  the  oaths  in  Munster,  as  bells,  relics  of  saints, 
and  bachalls,  to  be  true  to  each  other  forever." 

The  unfortunate  Irish  prince  little  suspected  all  the 
false  oaths  his  friend  had  taken,  or  all  the  villany  he 
premeditated.  There  was  another  claimant  for  the 
crown  as  usual,  Turlough  O'Brien.  He  was  defeated, 
but  nevertheless  the  earl  turned  to  his  side,  got  Brian 
Roe  into  his  hands,  and  had  him  dragged  to  death  be- 
tween horses.  The  wretched  perpetrator  of  this  diabol- 
ical deed  gained  little  by  his  crime,  for  O'Brien's  sons 
obtained  a  victory  over  him  the  following  year.  At  one 
time  he  was  so  hard  pressed  as  to  be  obliged  to  surren- 
der at  discretion,  after  living  on  horseflesh  for  several 
days.  In  1281  the  unprincipled  earl  tried  the  game  of 
dissension,  and  set  up  Donough,  the  son  of  the  man  he 
had  murdered,  against  Turlough,  whom  he  had  supported 
just  before.  But  Donough  was  slain  two  years  after, 
and  Turlough  continued  master  of  Thomond  until  his 
death,  in  1306.  De  Clare  was  slain  by  the  O'Briens,  in 
1286. 

In  1280  the  Irish  who  lived  near  the  Anglo-Norman 
settlers  presented  a  petition  to  the  English  king,  pray- 
ing that  they  might  be  admitted  to  the  privileges  of  the 
English  law.  Edward  issued  a  writ  to  the  then  lord 
justice,  D'UfFord,  desiring  him  to  assemble  the  lords  spir- 
itual and  temporal  of  the  "land  of  Ireland,"  to  deliber- 
ate on  the  subject,  but  the  writ  was  not  attended  to ;  and 
even  if  it  had  been,  the  lords  "  spiritual  and  temporal 79 
appear  to  have  decided  long  before,  that  the  Irish  should 
not  participate  in  the  benefit  of  English  laws. 

Hugh  Boy  O'Neill  was  slain  in  1283.  He  is  styled 
"the  head  of  the  liberality  and  valor  of  the  Irish  ;  the 
most  distinguished  in  the  north  for  bestowing  jewels  and 
riches  ;  the  most  formidable  and  victorious  of  his  tribe ; 
and  the  worthy  heir  to  the  throne  of  Ireland."  The  last 
sentence  is  observable,  as  it  shows  that  the  English 
monarch  was  not  then  considered  king  of  Ireland.  In 
1285  Theobald  Butler  died  at  Berehaven.  After  his 
death  a  large  army  was  collected  by  lord  Geoffrey  Gene- 
ville,  and  some  other  English  nobles.  They  marched 
into  Offaly,  where  the  Irish  had  just  seized  the  castle  of 


208 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


Leix.  Here  they  had  a  brief  triumph,  and  seized  upon 
a  great  prey  of  cows  ;  but  the  native  forces  rallied  imme- 
diately, and,  with  the  aid  of  Carbry  O'Melaghlin,  routed 
the  enemy  completely.  Theobald  de  Verdun  lost  both  his 
men  and  his  horses,  and  Gerald  FitzMaurice  was  taken 
prisoner  the  day  after  the  battle,  it  is  said,  through  the 
treachery  of  his  own  followers.  The  Four  Masters  do  not 
mention  this  event,  but  it  is  recorded  at  length  in  the 
Annals  of  Clonmacnois.  They  add  :  "  There  was  a  great 
snow  this  year,  which  from  Christmas  to  St.  Brigid's  day 
continued. ;; 

In  order  to  understand  Irish  history  thoroughly,  it 
is  necessary  to  call  the  attention  of  the  reader  to  the 
peculiar  complications  of  interests  which  rendered  gov- 
ernment so  difficult  for  centuries,  and  which  have,  un- 
happily, left  their  impress  for  evil  on  that  country  to 
the  present  day. 

Before  the  arrival  of  the  Normans,  Ireland  was  .gov- 
erned by  an  Ard-Righ,  or  chief  monarch,  and  four  pro- 
vincial kings.  The  Ard-Righ  was  monarch  merely  in 
name,  and  his  authority  was  barely  acknowledged  b}7  the 
payment  of  certain  "rights,"  chiefly  in  kind,  such  as 
cattle,  garments  of  different  kinds,  &c.  He  in  his  turn 
was  obliged  to  bestow  certain  rights  upon  his  dependen- 
cies. But  there  was  a  further  complication  of  govern- 
ment which  arose  from  the  independence  of  petty  chief- 
tains, who  occupied  large  territories  under  the  provincial 
kings,  and  were  for  all  practical  purposes  as  independent 
of  them  as  they  were  of  the  Ard-Righ.  The  Danish 
invasion  caused  a  further  division  of  interest,  but  that 
had  passed  away  at  the  period  which  now  occupies  our 
attention.  The  Danish  settlers  were  naturalized,  and 
principally  occupied  the  maritime  towns,  where  they 
devoted  themselves  to  commerce. 

Constant  war  between  the  provincial  kings  and  the 
petty  chieftains  was  the  result  of  this  mode  of  govern- 
ment. A  powerful  and  able  monarch,  like  Brian  Boru, 
might  have  consolidated  these  various  interests,  and 
made  the  nation  one.  But  at  a  time  when  communica- 
tion was  so  difficult,  and  half  Munster  might  be  invaded 
and  sacked  before  it  could  be  known  to  the  Ard-Righ  in 
Leinster,  prosperity  could  only  have  been  attained  under 
the  government  of  one  sole  monarch. 


IRISH  FORM  OF  GOVERNMENT. 


209 


It  might  be  supposed  that  the  English  invasion  of  Ire- 
land would  have  effected  this  most  desirable  end.  But 
this  was  far  from  being  the  case:  it  only  added  three- 
fold to  the  complications  already  existing.  The  English 
kings  were  too  much  occupied  at  one  time  with  their 
French  possessions,  and  at  another  period  with  domestic 
difficulties,  to  give  any  steady  attention  to  forming  a 
proper  government  in  Ireland.  They  governed  by  vice- 
roys, or  justiciaries,  as  they  were  at  first  denominated. 
If  the  viceroy  had  been  intrusted  with  absolute  power, 
and  if  he  had  had  a  large  army  at  his  command,  he  might 
have  effected  some  reform.  But  these  officers  were 
appointed  more  as  a  matter  of  convenience  than  of  pol- 
icy, and  were  so  frequently  changed,  that  they  were  a 
mere  nominal  power  in  the  state.  Hence  they  soon  fell 
into  the  custom  of  the  country,  and  merely  used  their 
office  as  a  pretext  for  plunder,  without  the  slightest  re- 
gard to  the  interests  of  either  country. 

The  real  rulers  of  Ireland,  after  the  native  kings  had 
lost  their  power  and  prestige,  were  the  descendants  of 
the  Norman  nobles  who  had  come  over  with  Strongbow. 
Of  these,  the  principal,  because  the  most  powerful,  were 
the  De  Burgos,  who  after  a  time  took  the  Celtic  appel- 
lation of  Burkes,  and  the  Fitzgeralds,  or  Geraldines. 
Unfortunately  for  the  prosperity  of  the  country,  these 
two  families  were  perpetually  at  war,  or,  if  not  at  war, 
undermining  each  other's  influence  by  diplomacy.  Under 
such  circumstances  no  country  could  prosper.  The 
viceroy  and  the  nobles  agreed  only  on  one  subject :  to 
harass  the  native  Irish,  and  to  extort  from  them  all  they 
possibly  could.  From  the  commencement,  the  Irish,  by 
degrees,  joined  the  standard  of  one  or  other  of  the  most 
powerful  nobles,  but  for  several  centuries  after  the  Nor- 
man invasion  they  did  this  merely  as  a  matter  of  conven- 
ience, and  at  any  moment  were  ready  to  transfer  their 
allegiance  to  others. 

J ohn  FitzThomas  FitzGerald  was  the  immediate  founder 
of  the  two  great  branches  of  the  Geraldines ;  but  the  fam- 
ily came  to  Ireland  with  Strongbow,  and  were  descended 
from  Raymond  le  Gros,  who  soon  assumed  considerable 
state,  and  obtained  great  influence.  It  will  be  remem- 
bered that,  when  FitzAldelm  was  sent  to  Ireland  as  jus- 
ticiary by  Henry  II. ;  after  the  death  of  Strongbow,  he 


210 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


at  once  determined  to  curb  the  power  of  his  rival.  Fitz- 
Aldelm  was  the  head  of  the  family  of  De  Burgo.  In 
1224  Henry  III.  gave  the  whole  of  Connaught  to  Rich- 
ard de  Burgo,  called  the  great  earl  of  Connaught.  But 
the  gift  was  merely  nominal,  for  in  that  part  of  Ireland 
no  settlement  could  be  kept,  except  at  the  point  of  the 
sword.  In  1240  the  lord  justice  was  ordered  by  the 
same  king  to  11  pluck  him  out  by  the  root/7  he  had  caused 
so  much  dissension  among  the  Norman  nobles  ;  but  it 
was  easier  to  issue  such  a  mandate  than  to  enforce  it. 
In  1286  the  power  of  the  De  Burgos  culminated.  Rich- 
ard de  Burgo,  commonly  known  as  the  Red  Earl,  led  his 
armies  through  the  country  as  sovereign  lord,  and  even 
in  official  documents  his  name  was  placed  before  that  of 
the  viceroy. 

This  nobleman  was  the  direct  descendant  of  Fitz- 
Aldelm  de  Burgo,  who  had  married  Isabella,  a  natural 
daughter  of  Richard  Coeur  de  Lion,  and  widow  of  Lle- 
wellyn, prince  of  Wales.  Walter  de  Burgo  became  earl 
of  Ulster  in  right  of  his  wife,  Maud,  daughter  of  the 
younger  Hugh  de  Lacy.  The  Red  Earl's  grandson, 
William,  who  was  murdered,  in  1333,  by  the  English  of 
Ulster,  and  whose  death  was  most  cruelly  revenged, 
was  the  third  and  last  of  the  De  Burgo  earls  of  Ulster. 
The  Burkes  of  Connaught  are  descended  from  William, 
the  younger  brother  of  Walter,  the  first  earl.  In  1543 
Mac  William  de  Burgo  was  created  earl  of  Clanrickard. 
He  was  known  by  the  sobriquet  of  Ulick-na-'gceann,  or 
Ulick  of  the  Heads,  from  the  number  of  persons  whom 
he  had  decapitated  in  his  wars. 

In  1290  John  FitzThomas  FitzGerald,  who  had  been 
created  baron  of  Offaly,  obtained  large  grants  of  land 
from  Edward  I.,  including  the  lordships  of  Kildare  and 
Rathangan.  One  of  his  sons,  John,  was  subsequently 
created  earl  of  Kildare  ;  the  other,  Maurice,  earl  of  Des- 
mond. Further  particulars  will  be  given  as  we  proceed  ; 
the  present  object  being  merely  to  give  a  general  idea  of 
the  rise  and  power  of  those  important  families. 

In  1286  De  Burgo  laid  claim  to  that  portion  of  Meath 
which  Theobald  de  Verdun  held  in  right  of  his  mother, 
the  daughter  of  Walter  de  Lacy.  He  besieged  De  Ver- 
dun in  his  castle  of  Athlone,  a.  d.  1288,  but  the  result 
has  not  been  recorded.    De  Toleburne,  justiciary  of  Ire- 


ENGLISH  POSSESSIONS  IN  IRELAND. 


211 


land,  died  this  year  ;  the  king  seized  on  all  his  property, 
to  pay  debts  which  he  owed  to  the  crown.  It  appears 
he  was  possessed  of  a  considerable  number  of  horses. 

Jean  de  Samford,  archbishop  of  Dublin,  administered 
the  affairs  of  the  colony  until  1290,  when  he  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Sir  William  de  Vesci,  a  Yorkshire  man,  and  a 
royal  favorite. 

In  1289  Carbry  O'Melaghlin  possessed  a  considerable 
amount  of  power  in  Meath,  and  was  therefore  extremely 
obnoxious  to  the  English  settlers.  An  army  was  col- 
lected to  overthrow  his  government,  headed  by  Richard 
Tuite  (the  Great  Baron)  and  assisted  by  O'Connor,  king 
of  Connaught.  They  were  defeated,  and  "  Tuite,  with 
his  kinsmen,  and  Siccus  O'Kelly,  were  slain. ,; 

Immediately  after  the  arrival  of  the  new  lord  justice, 
a  quarrel  sprung  up  between  him  and  Fitzgerald,  baron 
of  Offaly.  They  both  appeared  before  the  Council ;  and 
if  Hollinshed's  account  may  be  credited,  they  used  lan- 
guage which  would  scarcely  be  tolerated  in  Billingsgate. 
FitzGerald  proposed  an  appeal  to  arms,  which  was  ac- 
cepted by  his  adversary.  Edward  summoned  both  par- 
ties to  Westminster.  FitzGerald  came  duly  equipped  for 
the  encounter,  but  De  Vesci  had  fled  the  country.  He 
was,  however,  acquitted  by  Parliament,  on  the  ground 
of  informality,  and  the  affair  was  referred  to  the  royal 
decision.  According  to  Hollinshed's  account,  the  king 
observed  that,  "although  De  Vesci  had  conveyed  his 
person  to  France,  he  had  left  his  land  behind  him  in 
Ireland  ;  "  and  bestowed  the  lordships  of  Kildare  and 
Rathangan  upon  his  adversary. 

Wogan  was  viceroy  during  the  close  of  this  century, 
and  had  ample  employment  in  pacifying  the  Geraldines 
and  Burkes  —  an  occupation  in  which  he  was  not  always 
successful.  Thomas  FitzMaurice,  "  of  the  ape,"  father 
of  the  first  earl  of  Desmond,  had  preceded  him  in  the 
office  of  justiciary.  This  nobleman  obtained  his  cogno- 
men from  the  circumstance  of  having  been  carried,  when 
a  child,  by  a  tame  ape  round  the  walls  of  a  castle,  and 
then  restored  to  his  cradle  without  the  slightest  injury. 

The  English  possessions  in  Ireland  at  the  close  of  this 
century  consisted  of  the  "  Liberties  "  and  ten  counties  — 
Dublin,  Louth,  Kildare,  Waterford,  Tipperary,  Cork, 
Limerick,  Kerry,  Roscommon,  and  part  of  Connaught. 


212 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


The  "  Liberties  "  were  those  of  Connaught  and  Ulster, 
under  De  Burgo  ;  Meath,  divided  between  De  Mortimer 
and  De  Verdun  ;  Wexford,  Carlow,  and  Kilkenny,  under 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  respective  representatives  of  the 
Marshal  heiresses  ;  Thomond,  claimed  by  De  Clare  ;  and 
Desmond,  partly  controlled  by  the  FitzGeralds.  Sir 
William  Davies  says  :  "  These  absolute  palatines  made 
barons  and  knights  ;  did  exercise  high  justice  in  all 
points  within  their  territories  ;  erected  courts  for  crim- 
inal and  civil  cases,  and  for  their  own  revenues,  in  the 
same  forms  as  the  king's  courts  were  established  at 
Dublin  ;  made  their  own  judges,  sheriffs,  coroners,  and 
escheators,  so  as  the  king's  writ  did  not  run  in  these 
counties  (which  took  up  more  than  two  parts  of  the 
English  colonies),  but  only  in  the  church  lands  lying 
within  the  same,  which  were  called  the  Cross,  wherein 
the  king  made  a  sheriff ;  and  so  in  each  of  these  counties-, 
palatine  there  were  two  sheriffs,  one  of  the  Liberty,  and 
another  of  the  Cross.  These  undertakers  were  not  tied 
to  any  form  of  plantation,  but  all  was  left  to  their  dis- 
cretion and  pleasure  ;  and  although  they  builded  castles 
and  made  freeholds,  yet  there  were  no  tenures  or  ser- 
vices reserved  to  the  crown,  but  the  lords  drew  all  the 
respect  and  dependency  of  the  common  people  unto 
themselves."  Hence  the  strong  objection  which  the 
said  lords  had  to  the  introduction  of  English  law  ;  for  had 
this  been  accomplished,  it  would  have  proved  a  serious 
check  to  their  own  advancement  for  the  present  time, 
though,  had  they  wisdom  to  have  seen  it,  in  the  end  it 
would  have  proved  their  best  safeguard,  and  consol- 
idated their  power.  The  fact  was,  these  settlers  aimed 
at  living  like  the  native  princes,  oblivious  or  ignorant  of 
the  circumstance  that  these  princes  were  as  much  amen- 
able to  law  as  the  lowest  of  their  subjects,  and  that  they 
governed  by  a  prescriptive  right  of  centuries.  If  they 
made  war,  it  was  for  the  benefit  of  the  tribe,  not  for 
their  individual  aggrandizement ;  if  they  condemned  to 
death,  the  sentence  would  be  in  accordance  with  the 
Brehon  Law,  which  the  people  knew  and  revered.  The 
settlers  owned  no  law  but  their  own  will ;  and  the  un- 
happy people  whom  they  governed  could  not  fail  to  see 
that  their  sole  object  was  their  own  benefit,  and  to  at- 
tain an  increase  of  territorial  possessions  at  any  cost. 


SIR  JOHN  WOGAN  SUMMONS  A  PARLIAMENT.  213 


On  the  lands  thus  plundered  many  native  septs  existed, 
whom  neither  war  nor  famine  could  quite  exterminate. 
Their  feelings  towards  the  new  lord  of  the  soil  can  easily 
be  understood;  it  was  a  feeling  of  open  hostility,  of 
which  they  made  no  secret.  They  considered  the 
usurper's  claim  unjust;  and  to  deprive  him  of  the  pos- 
sessions which  he  had  obtained  by  force  or  fraud,  was 
the  dearest  wish  of  their  hearts. 

Such  portions  of  the  country  as  lay  outside  the  land 
of  which  the  Anglo-Normans  had  possessed  themselves, 
were  called  "  marches."  These  were  occupied  by  troops 
of  natives,  who  continually  resisted  the  aggressions  of 
the  invader,  always  anxious  to  add  to  his  territory.  These 
troops  constantly,  made  good  reprisals  for  what  had  been 
taken,  by  successful  raids  on  the  castle  or  the  garrison. 
Thus  occupied  for  several  centuries,  they  acquired  a 
taste  for  this  roving  life ;  and  they  can  scarcely  be  re- 
proached for  not  having  advanced  in  civilization  with  the 
age,  by  those  who  placed  such  invincible  obstacles  to 
their  progress. 

The  most  important  royal  castles,  after  Dublin,  were 
those  of  Athlone,  Roscommon,  and  Randown.  They 
were  governed  by  a  constable,  and  supplied  by  a  garri- 
son paid  out  of  the  revenues  of  the  colony.  The  object 
of  these  establishments  was  to  keep  down  the  natives, 
who  were  accordingly  taxed  to  keep  the  garrisons. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  Sir  John  Wogan  had  been 
appointed  viceroy  at  the  close  of  the  thirteenth  century. 
He  brought  about  a  two  years7  truce  between  the  Ger- 
aldines  and  the  Burkes  (De  Burgos),  and  then  sum- 
moned a  Parliament  at  Kilkenny,  a.  d.  1295.  The  roll 
of  this  Parliament  contains  only  twenty-seven  names. 
Richard,  earl  of  Ulster,  is  the  first  on  the  list.  The 
principal  acts  passed  were  :  one  for  revising  king  John's 
division  of  the  country  into  counties ;  another  for  pro- 
viding a  more  strict  guard  over  the  marches,  so  as  to 
"  keep  out  the  Irish."  The  Irish  were  not  permitted  to 
have  any  voice  in  the  settlement  of  the  affairs  of  their 
country,  and  it  was  a  rebellious  symptom  if  they  de- 
murred. Nevertheless,  in  1303,  king  Edward  was  gra- 
ciously pleased  to  accept  the  services  of  Irish  soldiers 
in  his  expedition  against  Scotland.  It  is  said  that,  in 
1299,  his  army  was  composed  princioally  of  Welsh  and 


214 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


Irish,  and  that  on  this  occasion  they  were  royally  feasted 
at  Roxburgh  castle. 

The  O'Connors  of  Offaly  were  for  nearly  two  centu- 
ries the  most  heroic,  and  therefore  the  most  dangerous 
of  the  "  Irish  enemies. ;;  Maurice  O'Connor  Faly  and 
his  brother  Calvagh,  were  the  heads  of  the  sept.  The 
latter  had  obtained  the  soubriquet  of  "  the  great  rebel," 
from  his  earnest  efforts  to  free  his  country.  He  had 
defeated  the  English  in  a  battle,  in  which  Meiller  de 
Exeter  and  several  others  were  slain ;  he  had  taken  the 
castle  of  Kildare ;  and,  as  he  could  not  be  taken  him- 
self by  fair  means,  treachery  was  employed. 

The  chiefs  of  Offaly  were  invited  to  dinner  on  Trinity 
Sunday,  a.  d.  1315,  by  Sir  Pierce  MacFeorais  (Peter  Ber- 
mingham).  As  they  rose  up  from  table  they  were 
cruelly  massacred,  one  by  one,  with  twenty -four  of  their 
followers.  This  black  deed  took  place  at  Bermingham's 
own  castle  of  Carbury,  county  Kildare.  Bermingham 
was  arraigned  before  king  Edward,  but  no  justice  was 
ever  obtained  for  this  foul  murder. 

In  the  year  1308,  Piers  Gaveston,  the  unworthy  favor- 
ite of  Edward  II.,  was  appointed  viceroy.  The  English 
barons  had  long  been  disgusted  by  his  insolence,  and 
jealous  of  his  influence.  He  was  banished  to  France  — 
or  rather  a  decree  to  that  effect  was  issued  —  but  Ire- 
land was  substituted,  for  it  was  considered  a  banishment 
to  be  sent  to  that  country.  Gaveston,  with  his  usual 
love  of  display,  was  attended  by  a  magnificent  suite, 
and  commenced  his  viceroyalty  in  high  state.  He  was 
accompanied  by  his  wife,  Marguerite,  who  was  closely 
connected  with  the  royal  family. 

Edward  appears  to  have  had  apprehensions  as  to  the 
kind  of  reception  his  favorite  was  likely  to  receive  from 
the  powerful  earl  of  Ulster ;  he  therefore  wrote  him  a 
special  letter,  requesting  his  aid  and  counsel  for  the 
viceroy.  But  De  Burgo  knew  his  own  power  too  well ; 
and  instead  of  complying  with  the  royal  request,  he 
marched  off  to  Drogheda,  and  then  to  Trim,  where  he 
employed  himself  in  giving  sumptuous  entertainments, 
and  conferring  the  honor  of  knighthood  upon  his  adher- 
ents. The  favorite  was  recalled  to  England  at  the  end  of  a 
year.  Edward  had  accompanied  him  to  Bristol,  on  his 
way  to  Ireland  ;  he  now  went  to  meet  him  at  Chester  on 


BRUCE's  CAMPAIGN  IN  IRELAND. 


215 


his  return.  Three  years  later  he  paid  the  forfeit  of  his 
head  for  all  these  condescensions. 

In  1309  De  Wogan  was  again  appointed  governor. 
The  exactions  of  the  nobles  had  risen  to  such  a  height, 
that  some  of  their  number  began  to  fear  the  effects  would 
recoil  on  themselves.  High  food  rates  and  fearful  pov- 
erty then  existed,  in  consequence  of  the  cruel  exactions 
of  the  Anglo-Normans  on  their  own  dependants.  They 
lived  frequently  in  their  houses,  and  quartered  their  sol- 
diers and  followers  on  them,  without  offering  them  the 
smallest  remuneration.  A  statute  was  now  made  which 
pronounced  these  proceedings  "open  robbery/7  and 
accorded  the  right  of  suit  in  such  cases  to  the  crown. 
But  this  enactment  could  only  be  a  dead  letter.  We 
have  already  seen  how  the  crown  dealt  with  the  most 
serious  complaints  of  the  natives ;  and  even  had  justice 
been  awarded  to  the  complainant,  the  right  of  eviction 
was  in  the  hands  of  the  nearest  noble,  and  the  unfortu- 
nate tenant  would  have  his  choice  between  starvation  in 
the  woods  or  marauding  on  the  highways. 

The  viceroy  had  abundant  occupation  in  suppressing 
the  feuds  both  of  the  Irish  and  the  colonists.  Civil  war 
raged  in  Thomond,  but  the  quarrels  between  the  Anglo- 
Norman  settlers  in  the  same  provinca  appear  to  have  been 
more  extensive  and  less  easily  appeased.  In  a  note  to 
the  Annals  of  Clonmacnois,  MacGeoghegan  observes, 
that  "  there  reigned  more  dissentions,  strife,  warrs,  and 
debates  between  the  Englishmen  themselves,  in  the  be- 
ginning of  the  conquest  of  this  kingdom,  than  between 
the  Irishmen  ;  as  by  perusing  the  warrs  between  the 
Lacies  of  Meath,  John  Coursey,  earle  of  Ulster,  William 
Marshal,  and  the  English  of  Meath  and  Munster,  Mac 
Gerald,  the  Burke,  Butler,  and  Oogan,  may  appear." 

Edward  Bruce  landed  in  Ireland  on  the  16th  of  May, 
a.  d.  1315.  He  brought  with  him  an  army  of  six  thou- 
sand men,  the  heroes  of  Bannockburn.  Multitudes  of 
the  Irish  flocked  around  his  standard,  hoping  that  he 
would  deliver  them  from  the  oppression  under  which 
they  had  so  long  groaned  ;  and  in  order  to  obtain  the 
sanction  of  the  Holy  See,  the  Irish  chieftain,  Donneli 
O'Neill,  king  of  Ulster,  in  union  with  the  other  princes 
of  the  province,  wrote  a  spirited  but  respectful  remon- 
strance to  the  pope,  on  the  part  of  the  nation,  explain- 


216 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


ing  why  they  were  anxious  to  transfer  the  kingdom  to 
Bruce. 

In  this  document  the  remonstrants  first  state,  simply 
and  clearly,  that  the  holy  father  was  deceived  ;  that 
they  were  persuaded  his  intentions  were  pure  and  up- 
right ;  and  that  his  holiness  only  knew  the  Irish  through 
the  misrepresentations  of  their  enemies.  They  state 
their  wish  "  to  save  their  country  from  foul  and  false 
imputations/7  and  to  give  a  correct  idea  of  their  state. 
They  speak  "truthfully  and  mournfully,  "of  the  sad 
remains  of  a  kingdom,  which  has  groaned  so  long  be- 
neath the  tyranny  of  English  kings,  of  their  ministers 
and  their  barons  ;  and  they  add,  "  that  some  of  the  lat- 
ter, though  born  in  the  Island,  continued  to  exercise  the 
same  extortions,  rapine,  and  cruelties,  as  their  ancestors 
inflicted. "  They  remind  the  pontiff  that  "it  is  to  Mile- 
sian princes,  and  not  to  the  English,  that  the  Church  is 
indebted  for  those  lands  and  possessions  of  which  it  has 
been  stripped  by  the  sacrilegious  cupidity  of  the  Eng- 
lish. 7;  They  boldly  assert  that  "it  was  on  the  strength 
of  false  statements  "  that  Adrian  transferred  the  sover- 
eignty of  the  country  to  Henry  II.,  "the  probable  mur- 
derer of  St.  Thomas  a  Beckett  Details  are  then  given 
of  English  oppression,  to  some  of  which  we  have  already 
referred.  They  state  that  the  people  have  been  obliged 
to  take  refuge,  "  like  beasts,  in  the  mountains,  in  the 
woods,  marshes,  and  caves.  Even  there  we  are  not  safe. 
They  envy  us  these  desolate  abodes. "  They  contrast 
the  engagements  made  by  Henry  to  the  Church,  and  his 
fair  promises,  with  the  grievous  failure  in  their  fulfil- 
ment. They  give  clear  details  of  the  various  enactments 
made  by  the  English,  one  of  which  merits  special  atten- 
tion, as  an  eternal  refutation  of  the  false  and  base  chafge 
against  the  Irish  of  having  refused  to  accept  English 
laws,  because  they  were  a  lawless  race.  They  state  (1) 
"  that  no  Irishman  who  is  not  a  prelate  can  take  the  law 
against  an  Englishman,  but  every  Englishman  may  take 
the  law  against  an  Irishman. "  (2)  That  any  English- 
man may  kill  an  Irishman,  "falsely  and  perfidiously,  as 
often  happened,  of  whatsoever  rank,  innocent  or  guilty, 
and  yet  he  cannot  be  brought  before  the  English  tribu- 
nals :  and,  further,  that  the  English  murderer  can  seize 
the  property  of  his  victim. "    When  such  was  the  state 


BRUCE'S  IRISH  CAMPAIGN. 


217 


of  Ireland,  as  described  calmly  in  an  important  docu- 
ment'still  extant,  we  cannot  be  surprised  that  the  peo- 
ple eagerly  sought  the  slightest  hope  of  redress,  or  the 
merest  chance  of  deliverance  from  such  oppression.  In 
conclusion,  the  Irish  princes  inform  the  pope,  "that  in 
order  to  obtain  their  object  the  more  speedily  and  se- 
curely, they  had  invited  the  gallant  Edward  Bruce,  to 
whom,  being  descended  from  their  most  noble  ancestors, 
they  had  transferred,  as  they  justly  might,  their  own 
right-  of  royal  domain."  1 

A  few  years  later  Pope  John  wrote  a  letter  to  Edward 
III.,  in  which  he  declares  that  the  object  of  Pope  xldrian's 
Bull  had  been  entirely  neglected,  and  that  the  "most 
unheard-of  miseries  and  persecutions  had  been  inflicted 
on  the  Irish."  He  recommends  that  monarch  to  adopt 
a  very  different  policy,  and  to  remove  the  cause  of  com- 
plaint, "  lest  it  might  be  too  late  hereafter  to  apply  a 
remedy,  when  the  spirit  of  revolt  had  grown  stronger." 

The  accounts  of  Bruce's  Irish  campaign  have  not  been 
very  clearly  given.  The  Four  Masters  mention  it  briefly, 
notwithstanding  its  importance ;  the  fullest  account  is 
contained  in  the  Annals  of  Clonmacnois,  which  agree 
with  the  Annals  of  Connaught.  Dundalk,  Ardee,  and 
some  other  places  in  the  north  were  taken  in  rapid  suc- 
cession, and  a  good  supply  of  victuals  and  wine  was 
obtained  from  the  former  place.  The  viceroy,  Sir  Ed- 
mund le  Botiller,  marched  to  attack  the  enemy  ;  but  the 
proud  earl  of  Ulster  refused  his  assistance,  and  probably 
the  justiciary  feared  to  offend  him  by  offering  to  remain. 
Meanwhile,  Felim,  king  of  Connaught,  who  had  hitherto 
been  an  ally  of  the  Red  Earl,  came  over  to  the  popular 
side  ;  and  the  English  forces  suffered  a  defeat  at  Connor, 
in  which  William  de  Burgo  and  several  knights  were 
taken  prisoners.  This  battle  was  fought  on  the  10th  of 
September,  according  to  Grace's  Annals,  and  the  battle 
of  Dundalk  on  the  29th  of  July. 

After  the  battle  of  Connor,  the  earl  of  Ulster  fled  to 
Connaught,  where  he  remained  a  year;  the  remainder  of 
his  forces  shut  themselves  up  in  Carrickfergus.  Brace 
was  proclaimed  king  of  Ireland,  and  marched  southward 

1  The  original  Latin  is  preserved  by  Fordun.  Translations  may  be 
found  in  the  Abbe  MacGeoghgegan's  History  of  Ireland,  p.  323,  and  in 
Plowden's  Historical  Review, 

10 


218 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


to  pursue  his  conquests.  The  earl  of  Moray  was  sent 
to  Edinburgh,  to  invite  king  Robert  over,  and  the  Scotch 
armies  prepared  to  spend  the  winter  with  the  De  Lacys 
in  Westmeath. 

When  the  Christmas  festivities  were  concluded,  Bruce 
again  took  the  field,  and  defeated  the  viceroy  at  Ard- 
scull,  in  the  county  Kildare.  In  the  month  of  February 
some  of  the  chief  nobles  of  the  English  colony  met  in 
Dublin,  and  signed  a  manifesto,  in  which  they  denounced 
the  traitorous  conduct  of  the  Scotch  enemy,  in  trying  to 
wrest  Ireland  from  their  lord  "  Monsieur  Edward/'  tak- 
ing special  care  to  herald  forth  their  own  praises  for 
loyalty,  and  to  hint  at  the  compensation  which  might  be 
required  for  the  same. 

But  the  Irish  were  again  their  own  enemies ;  and  to 
their  miserable  dissensions,  though  it  can  never  justify 
the  cruelties  of  their  oppressors,  must  be  attributed 
most  justly  nearly  all  their  misfortunes.  Had  the  Irish 
united  against  the  invaders,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that, 
with  the  assistance  of  the  Scotch  army,  they  would  have 
obtained  a  complete  and  glorious  victory,  though  it  may 
be  doubtful  whether  any  really  beneficial  results  would 
have  accrued  to  the  country,  should  disunion  continue. 
When  Felim  O'Connor  joined  Bruce,  Rory  O'Oonnor  and 
his  clan  commenced  depredations  on  his  territory.  Felim 
returned  to  give  him  battle,  and  defeated  him  with  ter- 
rible slaughter.  Thus  men  and  time  were  lost  in  useless 
and  ignoble  strife.  Rory  was  slain  in  this  engagement 
—  a  fate  he  richly  merited ;  and  Felim  was  once  more 
free  to  fight  for  his  country.  He  was  joined  by  the 
O'Briens  of  Thomond,  and  they  marched  together  to 
attack  Athenry,  which  was  defended  by  Burke  and  Ber- 
mingham.  A  fierce  conflict  ensued.  The  Irish  fought 
with  their  usual  valor ;  but  English  coats-of-mail  were 
proof  against  their  attacks,  and  English  cross-bows 
mowed  down  their  ranks. 

The  brave  young  Felim  was  slain,  with  eleven  thou- 
sand of  his  followers,  and  the  Irish  cause  was  irretrieva- 
bly injured,  perhaps  more  by  the  death  of  the  leader 
than  by  the  loss  of  the  men.  This  disaster  took  place 
on  the  10th  of  August,  1316. 

Still  the  Irish  were  not  daunted.  The  O'Tooles  and 
O'Byrnes  rose  in  Wicklow,  the  O'Mores  in  Leix.  Ed- 


BRUCE  RETURNS  TO  SCOTLAND. 


219 


ward  Bruce  again  appeared  before  Carrickfergus.  The 
siege  was  protracted  until  September,  when  Robert 
Bruce  arrived,  and  found  the  English  so  hard  pressed 
that  they  ate  hides,  and  fed  on  the  bodies  of  eight  Scots, 
whom  they  had  made  prisoners.  In  the  year  1317  the 
Scottish  army  was  computed  at  twenty  thousand  men, 
besides  their  Irish  auxiliaries.  After  Shrovetide,  king 
Eobert  and  his  brother  crossed  the  Boyne,  and  inarched 
to  Castleknock,  near  Dublin,  where  they  took  Hugh  Tyr- 
rell prisoner,  and  obtained  possession  of  the  fortress. 
There  was  no  little  fear  in  Dublin  castle  thereupon,  for 
the  Anglo-Normans  distrusted  each  other.  And  well 
they  might.  The  De  Lacys  had  solemnly  pledged  their 
fidelity,  yet  they  were  now  found  under  the  standard  of 
Bruce.  Even  De  Burgo  was  suspected;  for  his  daugh- 
ter, Elizabeth,  was  the  wife  of  the  Scottish  king.  When 
the  invading  army  approached  Dublin,  he  was  seized 
and  confined  in  the  castle. 

Dublin  had  been  more  than  once  peopled  by  the  citi- 
zens of  Bristol.  They  were  naturally  in  the  English 
interest,  and  disposed  to  offer  every  resistance.  They 
fortified  Dublin  so  strongly,  even  at  the  expense  of  burn- 
ing the  suburbs  and  pulling  down  churches,  that  Bruce 
deemed  it  more  prudent  to  avoid  an  encounter,  and  with- 
drew towards  the  Salmon  Leap,  whence  he  led  his  forces 
southward  as  far  as  Limerick,  without  encountering  any 
serious  opposition. 

But  a  reverse  was  even  then  at  hand.  An  Anglo- Irish 
army  was  formed,  headed  by  the  earl  of  Kildare  ;  famine 
added  its  dangers  ;  and  on  the  1st  of  May,  Robert  Bruce 
returned  to  Scotland,  leaving  his  brother,  Edward,  with 
the  earl  of  Moray,  to  contend,  as  best  they  could,  against 
the  twofold  enemy.  In  1318a  good  harvest  relieved  the 
country  in  some  measure  from  one  danger  ;  two  cardi- 
nals were  despatched  from  Rome  to  attempt  to  release 
it  from  the  other.  On  the  14th  October,  in  the  same  year, 
the  question  was  finally  decided.  An  engagement  took 
place  at  Faughard,  near  Dundalk.  On  the  one  side  was 
the  Scotch  army,  headed  by  Bruce,  and  assisted  (from 
what  motive  it  is  difficult  to  determine)  by  the  De  Lacys 
and  other  Anglo-Norman  lords ;  on  the  other  side  the 
English  army,  commanded  by  lord  John  Bermingham. 
The  numbers  on  each  side  have  been  differently  esti- 


220 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


mated  ;  but  it  is  probable  the  death  of  Edward  Bruce 
was  the  turning  point  of  the  conflict.  He  was  slain  by 
a  knight  named  John  Maupas,  who  paid  for  his  valor 
with  his  life.  Bermingham  obtained  the  earldom  of 
Louth,  and  the  manor  of  Ardee  as  a  reward  for  Bruce's 
head ;  and  the  unfortunate  Irish  were  left  to  their  usual 
state  of  chronic  resistan  ce  to  English  oppression.  The 
head  of  the  Scottish  chieftain  was  "  salted  in  a  chest/' 
and  placed  unexpectedly,  with  other  heads,  at  a  banquet 
before  Edward  II.  The  English  king  neither  swooned 
nor  expressed  surprise ;  but  the  Scotch  ambassadors, 
who  were  present,  rushed  horror-stricken  from  the  apart- 
ment. The  king,  however,  was  "  right  blyth,"  and  glad 
to  be  delivered  so  easily  of  a  "  felon  foe."  John  de 
Lacy  and  Sir  Robert  de  Coulragh,  who  had  assisted  the 
said  "  felon,"  paid  dearly  for  their  treason.  They  were 
starved  to  death  in  prison,  11  on  three  morsels  of  the  worst 
bread,  and  three  draughts  of  foul  water  on  alternate  days, 
until  life  became  extinct." 

The  Butler  family  now  appear  prominently  in  Irish  his- 
tory for  the  first  time.  It  would  appear  from  Carte,  that 
the  name  was  originally  Gaultier,  Butler  being  an  addi- 
tion distinctive  of  office.  The  family  was  established 
in  Ireland  by  Theobald  Walter  (Gaultier),  an  Anglo- 
Norman  of  high  rank,  who  received  extensive  grants  of 
land  from  Henry  II.,  together  with  the  hereditary  office 
of  "  Pincerna,"  Boteler,  or  Butler,  in  Ireland,  to  the 
kings  of  England.  In  this  capacity  he  and  his  successors 
were  to-  attend  these  monarchs  at  their  coronation,  and 
present  them  with  the  first  cup  of  wine.  In  return  they 
obtained  many  privileges.  On  account  of  the  quarrels 
between  this  family  and  the  De  Burgos,  De  Berming- 
hams,  Le  Poers,  and  the  southern  Geraldines,  royal  let- 
ters were  issued,  commanding  them,  under  pain  of  for- 
feiture, to  desist  from  warring  on  each  other.  The  result 
was  a  meeting  of  the  factious  peers  in  Dublin,  at  which 
they  engaged  to  keep  the  "king's  peace."  On  the  fol- 
lowing day  they  were  entertained  by  the  earl  of  Ulster ; 
the  next  day,  at  St.  Patrick's,  by  Maurice  FitzThomas ; 
and  the  third  day  by  the  viceroy  and  his  fellow  Knights 
Hospitallers,  who  had  succeeded  the  Templars  at  Kil- 
mainham.  The  earldoms  of  Ormonde  and  Desmond  were 
now  created.    The  heads  of  these  families  long  occupied 


DEATH  OF  WALTER  DE  BUEGO. 


221 


an  important  place  in  Irish  affairs.  Butler  died  on  his 
return  from  a  pilgrimage  to  Compostella,  and  was  suc- 
ceeded by  his  eldest  son,  James  —  "a  liberal,  friendly, 
pleasant,  and  stately  youth  " — who  was  married  this 
year  to  king  Edward's  cousin,  Eleanor,  daughter  of  the 
earl  of  Essex.  The  Desmond  peerage  was  created  in 
1329,  when  the  county  palatine  of  Kerry  was  given  to 
that  family. 

The  quarrels  of  these  nobles  seemed  to  have  originated, 
or  rather  to  have  culminated,  in  an  insulting  speech 
made  by  Poer  to  FitzGerald,  whom  he  designated  as  a 
"rhymer."  The  "king's  peace  "  did  not  last  long  ; 
and  in  1330  the  lord  justice  was  obliged  to  imprison  both 
Desmond  and  Ulster,  that  being  the  only  method  in  which 
they  could  be  "  bound  over  to  keep  the  peace."  The  fol- 
lowing year  Sir  Anthony  de  Lucy  was  sent  to  Ireland,  as 
he  had  a  reputation  for  summary  justice.  He  summoned 
a  Parliament  in  Dublin  :  but  as  the  barons  did  not  con- 
descend to  attend,  he  adjourned  it  to  Kilkenny.  This 
arrangement  also  failed  to  procure  their  presence.  He 
seized  Desmond,  who  had  been  placed  in  the  care  of  the 
sheriff  of  Limerick,  and  conveyed  him  to  Dublin  castle. 
Several  other  nobles  were  arrested  at  the  same  time.  Sir 
William  Bermingham  was  confined  with  his  son  in  the 
keep  of  Dublin  castle,  which  still  bears  his  name.  He 
was  hanged  there  soon  after.  De  Lucy  was  recalled 
to  England,  probably  in  consequence  of  the  indignation 
which  was  excited  by  this  execution. 

The  years  1333  and  1334  were  disgraced  by  fearful 
crimes,  in  which  the  English  and  Irish  equally  partici- 
pated. In  the  former  year  the  earl  of  Ulster  seized  Wal- 
ter de  Burgo,  and  starved  him  to  death  in  the  Green 
Castle  of  Innishowen.  The  sister  of  the  man  thus  cruelly 
murdered  was  married  to  Sir  Richard  Mandeville,  and 
she  urged  her  husband  to  avenge  her  brother's  death. 
Mandeville  took  the  opportunity  of  accompanying  the 
earl  with  some  others  to  hear  Mass  at  Carrickfergus, 
and  killed  him  as  he  was  fording  a  stream:  The  young 
earl's  death  was  avenged  by  his  followers,  who  slew 
three  hundred  men.  His  wife,  Maud,  fled  to  England 
with  her  only  child,  a  daughter,  named  Elizabeth,  who 
was  a  year  old.  The  Burkes  of  Connaught,  who  were 
the  junior  branch  of  the  family,  fearing  that  she  would 


222 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


soon  marry  again,  and  transfer  the  property  to  other 
hands,  immediately  seized  the  Connaught  estates,  de- 
clared themselves  independent  of  English  law,  and 
renounced  the  English  language  and  customs.  They 
were  too  powerful  to  be  resisted  with  impunity ;  and 
while  the  ancestor  of  the  Clanrickardes  assumed  the 
Irish  title  of  Mac  William  Oughter,  or  the  Upper,  Edmund 
Burke,  the  progenitor  of  the  viscounts  of  Mayo,  took  the 
appellation  of  Mac  William  Fighter,  or  the  Lower.  This 
was  not  the  last  time  when  English  settlers  identified 
themselves,  not  merely  from  policy,  but  even  from  incli- 
nation, with  the  race  whom  they  had  once  hated  and 
oppressed. 

In  1334  the  English  and  Irish  marched  into  Munster  to 
attack  MacNamara,  and  added  the  guilt  of  sacrilege 
to  their  other  crimes,  by  burning  a  church,  with  one  hun- 
dred and  eighty  persons  and  two  priests  in  it,  none  of 
whom  were  permitted  to  escape.  Another  outrage  was 
committed  by  the  settlers,  who  appear  to  have  been 
quite  as  jealous  of  each  other's  property  as  the  Irish 
clans ;  for  we  find  that  one  Edmund  Burke  drowned 
another  of  the  same  name  in  Lough  Mask,  and  as  usual 
a  war  ensued  between  the  partisans  of  each  family. 
After  a  sanguinary  struggle,  Turlough  O'Connor  drove 
the  murderer  out  of  the  province.  But  this  prince  soon 
after  ruined  himself  by  his  wickedness.  He  married 
Burke's  widow,  and  put  away  his  own  lawful  wife  ;  from 
which  it  may  be  concluded  that  he  had  avenged  the  crime 
either  from  love  of  this  woman,  or  from  a  desire  to  pos- 
sess himself  of  her  husband's  property.  His  immoral 
conduct  alienated  the  other  chieftains,  and  after  three 
years'  war  he  was  deposed. 

Edward  had  thrpwn  out  some  hints  of  an  intended 
visit  to  Ireland,  probably  to  conceal  his  real  purpose  of 
marching  to  Scotland.  Desmond  was  released  on  bail 
in  1333,  after  eighteen  months'  durance,  and  repaired 
with  some  troops  to  assist  the  king  at  Halidon  Hill. 
Soon  after  we  find  him  fighting  in  Kerry,  while  the  earl 
of  Kildare  was  similarly  occupied  in  Leinster.  In  1339 
twelve  hundred  Kerry  men  were  slain  in  one  battle. 
The  Anglo-Norman,  FitzNicholas,  was  among  the  num- 
ber of  prisoners.  He  died  in  prison  soon  after.  This 
gentleman,  on  one  occasion,  dashed  into  the  assize  court 


VICEROYALTY  OF  SIR  RALPH  UFFORD.  223 

at  Tralee,  and  killed  Dermod,  the  heir  of  the  MacCarthy 
More,  as  he  sat  with  the  judge  on  the  bench.  As  Mac- 
Carthy was  Irish,  the  crime  was  suffered  to  pass  without 
further  notice. 

In  1341  Edward  took  sweeping  measures  for  a  general 
reform  of  the  Anglo-Norman  lords,  or,  more  probably, 
he  hoped,  by  threats  of  such  measures,  to  obtain  sub- 
sidies for  his  continental  wars.  The  colonists,  however, 
were  in  possession,  and  rather  too  powerful  to  brook 
such  interference.  Sir  John  Morris  was  sent  over  to 
carry  the  royal  plans  into  execution,  but  though  he  took 
prompt  measures,  the  affair  turned  out  a  complete  fail- 
ure. The  lords  refused  to  attend  his  Parliament,  and 
summoned  one  of  their  own,  in  which  they  threw  the 
blame  of  maladministration  on  the  English  officials  sent 
over  from  time  to  time  to  manage  Irish  affairs. 

In  1343  Sir  Ralph  Ufford,  who  had  married  Maud  Plan- 
tagenet,  the  widow  of  the  earl  of  Ulster,  was  appointed 
justiciary  of  Ireland.  He  commenced  with  a  high  hand, 
and  endeavored  especially  to  humble  the  Desmonds. 
The  earl  refused  to  attend  the  Parliament,  and  assembled 
one  of  his  own  at  Callan ;  but  the  new  viceroy  marched 
into  Leinster  with  an  armed  force,  seized  his  lands,  farmed 
them  out  for  the  benefit  of  the  crown,  got  possession  of 
the  strongholds  of  Castleisland  and  Inniskisty  in  Kerry, 
and  hanged  Sir  Eustace  Poer,  Sir  William  Grant,  and 
Sir  John  Cottrell,  who  commanded  these  places,  on  the 
charge  of  illegal  exactions  of  coigne  and  livery.  The 
viceroy  also  contrived  to  get  the  earl  of  Kildare  into  his 
power  ;  and  it  is  probable  that  his  harsh  measures  would 
have  involved  England  in  an  open  war  with  her  colony 
and  its  English  settlers,  had  not  his  sudden  death  put  an 
end  to  his  summary  exercise  of  justice. 

It  is  said  that  his  wife,  Maud,  who  could  scarcely  for- 
get the  murder  of  her  first  husband,  urged  him  on  to 
many  of  these  violent  acts  ;  and  it  was  .remarked,  that 
though  she  had  maintained  a  queenly  state  on  her  first 
arrival  in  Ireland,  she  was  obliged  to  steal  away  from 
that  country,  with  Ufford's  remains  enclosed  in  a  leaden 
coffin,  in  which  her  treasure  was  concealed.  Her  second 
husband  was  buried  near  her  first,  in  the  convent  of  Poor 
Clares,  at  Camposey,  near  Ufford,  in  Suffolk. 

The  Black  Death  broke  out  in  Ireland  in  the  year  1348. 


224 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


The  annalists  give  fearful  accounts  of  this  visitation.  It 
appeared  in  Dublin  first,  and  so  fatal  were  its  effects, 
that  four  thousand  souls  are  said  to  have  perished  there 
from  August  to  Christmas.  It  was  remarked  that  this 
pestilence  attacked  the  English  specially,  while  the 
"  Irish-born  " —  particularly  those  who  lived  in  the 
mountainous  parts  of  the  country  —  escaped  its  ravages. 
We  have  already  mentioned  the  account  of  this  calam- 
ity given  by  Friar  Clynn,  who  himself  fell  a  victim  to 
the  plague,  soon  after  he  had  recorded  his  mournful  fore- 
bodings. Several  other  pestilences,  more  or  less  severe, 
visited  the  country  at  intervals  during  the  next  few 
years. 

Lionel,  the  third  son  of  Edward  III.,  who,  it  will  be 
remembered,  was  earl  of  Ulster  in  right  of  his  wife,  Isa- 
bella, was  now  appointed  viceroy.  He  landed  in  Dub- 
lin, on  the  15th  of  September,  1360,  with  an  army  of 
one  thousand  men.  From  the  first  moment  of  his  ar- 
rival he  exercised  the  most  bitter  hostility  to  the  Irish, 
and  enhanced  the  invidious  distinction  between  the  Eng- 
lish by  birth  and  the  English  by  descent.  Long  before 
his  arrival  the  "mere  Irishman"  was  excluded  from  the 
offices  of  mayor,  bailiff,  or  officer,  in  any  town  within  the 
English  dominions,  as  well  as  from  all  ecclesiastical  pro- 
motion. Lionel  carried  matters  still  further,  for  he  forbid 
any  "Irish  by  birth  to  come  near  his  army."  But  he 
soon  found  that  he  could  not  do  without  soldiers,  even 
should  they  have  the  misfortune  to  be  Irish,  and  as  a 
hundred  of  his  best  men  were  killed  soon  after  this  in- 
sulting proclamation,  he  was  graciously  pleased  to  allow 
all  the  king's  subjects  to  assist  him  in  his  war  against 
f  the  enemy."  He  soon  found  it  advisable  to  make 
friends  with  the  colonists,  and  obtained  the  very  sub- 
stantial offering  of  two  years'  revenue  of  their  lands,  as 
a  return  for  his  condescension. 


ENACTMENT  OF  THE  STATUTE  OF  KILKENNY.  225 


CHAPTER  XV. 

A.  D.  1367  TO  A.  D.  1509. 

THE  STATUTE  OE  KILKENNY.  —  VISIT  OF  RICHARD  II. 
TO  IRELAND.  — WARS  OF  THE  ROSES. 

Contemporary  Events  :—  The  Stuart  dynasty  established  in  Scotland 
—  Accession  of  Richard  II.— Crusade  against  the  Turks  — Battle 
of  Agincourt— Invention  of  Printing  — The  English  deprived  of 
their  French  dominions  — Battle  of  Bosworth  Field  —  Discovery 
of  America — Death  of  Charles  VIII.  of  France  —  League  of  Cam- 
bray— Death  of  Henry  VII.  and  Accession  of  Henry  VIII. 

The  enactment  of  the  Statute  of  Kilkenny  is  one  of 
the  most  important  events  in  Irish  history.  Lionel  re- 
turned to  England  in  1364,  when  he  was  created  duke  of 
Clarence,  and  twice  during  the  three  following  }?ears  he 
was  appointed  justiciary.  In  the  year  1367  he  held  a 
Parliament  at  Kilkenny,  when  this  statute  was  passed. 
It  is  said  that  one  of  the  principal  motives  which  sug- 
gested this  statute  was  the  suppression,  or  even  exter- 
mination, of  the  descendants  of  the  original  settlers, 
who,  in  process  of  time,  had  become  almost  naturalized 
by  intermarriage  with  the  Irish.  It  was  the  policy  of 
the  English  government,  at  that  time,  to  keep  the  two 
races  distinct  and  at  variance,  to  preserve  a  sort  of  bal- 
ance of  power.  It  is  obvious  that,  if  any  considerable 
number  of  these  powerful  nobles  of  English  descent 
•united  with  the  Irish  against  the  new  arrivals  who  were 
continually  coming  to  claim  a  share  in  the  land,  they 
would  have  a  poor  chance  of  success. . 

This  statute  enacts — (1)  that  any  alliance  with  the 
Irish  by  marriage,  nurture  of  infants,  or  gossipred  (stand- 
ing sponsors),  should  be  punishable  as  high  treason; 
(2)  that  any  man  of  English  race  taking  an  Irish  name, 
or  using  the  Irish  language,  apparel,  or  customs,  should 
forfeit  all  his  lands;  (3)  that  to  adopt  or  submit  to  the 
Brehon  Law  was  treason  ;  (4)  that  the  English  should  not 


226 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


make  war  upon  the  natives  without  the  permission  of 
goverment;  (5)  that  the  English  should  not  permit  the 
Irish  to  pasture  or  graze  upon  their  lands,  nor  admit 
them  to  any  ecclesiastical  benefices  or  religious  houses, 
nor  entertain  their  minstrels  or  rhymers.  (6)  It  was 
also  forbidden  to  impose  or  cess  any  soldiers  upon  the 
English  subjects  against  their  will,  under  pain  of  felony  ; 
and  some  regulations  were  made  to  restrain  the  abuse 
of  sanctuary,  and  to  prevent  the  great  lords  from-laying 
heavy  burdens  upon  gentlemen  and  freeholders. 

The  fourth  clause  might  have  been  beneficial  to  the 
Irish  if  it  had  been  strictly  observed.  The  other  enact- 
ments were  observed  ;  but  this,  which  required  the  con- 
sent of  the  government  to  make  war  on  the  natives,  was 
allowed  to  remain  a  dead  letter.  In  any  case,  the  gov- 
ernment would  seldom  have  refused  any  permission  which 
might  help  to  lessen  the  number  of  the  "Irish  enemy." 

On  the  retirement  of  the  duke  of  Clarence,  in  1367, 
the  viceroyalty  was  accepted  by  Gerald,  fourth  earl  of 
Desmond,  styled  "  the  poet."  He  was  one  of  the  most 
learned  men  of  the  day,  and  thereby,  as  usual,  obtained 
the  reputation  of  practising  magic. 

Sir  Richard  Pembridge  refused  the  office  of  viceroy  in 
1369.  He  was  stripped  of  all  his  lands  and  offices  held 
under  the  crown,  as  a  punishment  for  his  contumacy, 
but  this  appears  to  have  had  no  effect  upon  his  deter- 
mination. It  was  decided  legally,  however,  that  the  king 
could  neither  fine  nor  imprison  him  for  this  refusal,  since 
no  man  could  be  condemned  to  go  into  exile.  High 
prices  were  now  offered  to  induce  men  to  bear  this  intol- 
erable punishment.  Sir  William  de  Windsor  asked  some- 
thing over  11,000Z.  per  annum  for  his  services,  which  Sir 
John  Davis  states  exceeded  the  whole  revenue  of  Ireland. 
The  salary  of  a  lord  justice  before  this  period  was  500Z.  per 
annum,  and  he  was  obliged  to  support  a  small  standing 
army.  The  truth  was,  that  the  government  of  Ireland 
had  become  every  day  more  difficult  and  less  lucrative. 
The  natives  were  already  despoiled  of  nearly  all  their 
possessions,  and  the  settlement  of  the  feuds  of  the  Anglo- 
Norman  nobles  was  neither  a  pleasant  nor  a  profitable 
employment.  In  addition  to  this,  Edward  was  levying 
immense  subsidies  in  Ireland,  to  support  his  wars  in 
France  and  Scotland.    At  last  the  clergy  were  obliged 


RICHARD  II.  VISITS  IRELAND. 


221 


to  interfere.  The  archbishop  of  Cashel  opposed  these 
unreasonable  demands,  and  solemnly  excommunicated 
the  king's  collector,  and  all  persons  employed  in  raising 
the  obnoxious  taxes. 

Richard  II.  succeeded  his  grandfather,  a.  d.  1377.  As 
he  was  only  in  his  eleventh  3rear,  the  government  was 
carried  on  by  his  uncles.  The  earl  of  March  was  sent 
to  Ireland  as  justiciary,  with  extraordinary  powers. 
He  had  married  Philippa,  daughter  of  Lionel,  duke  of 
Clarence,  by  his  first  wife,  and  in  her  right  became  earl 
of  Ulster.  One  of  the  Irish  princes  who  came  to  his 
court  was  treacherously  arrested  and  thrown  into  prison. 
The  injustice  was  resented,  or,  perhaps,  we  should  rather 
say,  feared  by  the  English  nobles,  as  well  as  the  Irish 
chieftains,  who  took  care  to  keep  out  of  the  way  of  such 
adventures,  by  absenting  themselves  from  the  viceregal 
hospitalities.  Roger  Mortimer  succeeded  his  father,  and 
was  followed  by  Philip  de  Courtenay,  the  king's  cousin. 
He  was  granted  the  office  for  ten  years,  but,  in  the  inter- 
val, was  taken  into  custody  by  the  Council  of  Regency 
for  his  peculations. 

There  was  war  in  Connaught  between  the  O'Connors, 
in  1384,  and  fierce  hostility  continued  for  years  after 
between  the  families  of  the  O'Connor  Don  (Brown)  and 
the  O'Connor  Roe  (Red).  Richard  II.  had  his  favorites, 
as  usual ;  and  in  a  moment  of  wild  folly  he  bestowed  the 
sovereignty  of  Ireland  upon  the  earl  of  Oxford,  whom  he 
also  created  marquis  of  Dublin.  His  royal  master  accom- 
panied him  as  far  as  Wales,  and  then,  determining  to 
keep  the  earl  near  his  person,  despatched  Sir  John  Syd- 
ney to  the  troublesome  colony. 

On  the  2nd  of  October,  a.  d.  1394,  Richard  II.  landed  on 
the  Irish  shores.  The  country  was  in  its  normal  state 
of  partial  insurrection  and  general  discontent ;  but  no 
attempt  was  made  to  remove  the  chronic  cause  of  all  'this 
unnecessary  misery.  There  was  some  show  of  submis- 
sion from  the  Irish  chieftains,  who  were  overawed  by 
the  immense  force  which  attended  the  king.  Art  Mac- 
Murrough,  the  heir  of  the  ancient  Leinster  kings,  was 
the  most  formidable  of  the  native  nobles  ;  and  from  his 
prowess  and  success  in  several  engagements,  was  some- 
what feared  by  the  invaders.  He  refused  to  defer  to 
anyone  but  Richard,  and  was  only  prevailed  on  to  make 


228 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


terms  when  he  found  himself  suddenly  immured  in  Dub- 
lin castle,  during*  a  friendly  visit  to  the  court. 

The  king's  account  of  his  reception  shows  that  he  had 
formed  a  tolerably  just  opinion  of  the  political  state 
of  the  country.  He  mentions,  in  a  letter  from  Dublin, 
that  the  people  might  be  divided  into  three  classes  —  the 
"wild  Irish,  or  enemies,"  the  Irish  rebels,  and  the  English 
subjects  ;  and  he  had  just  enough  discernment  to  see 
that  the  "  rebels  had  been  made  such  by  wrongs,  and  by 
want  of  close  attention  to  their  grievances,"  though  he 
had  not  the  judgment  or  the  justice  to  apply  the  neces- 
sary remedy.  His  next  attempt  was  to  persuade  the 
principal  Irish  kings  to  receive  knighthood  in  the  Eng- 
lish fashion.  They  submitted  with  the  worst  possible 
grace,  having  again  and  again  repeated  that  they  had 
already  received  the  honor  according  to  the  custom  of 
their  own  country. 

The  customs  of  the  Irish  nobles  were  again  made  a 
subject  of  ridicule,  as  they  had  been  during  the  visit  of 
prince  John,  though  we  might  have  supposed  that  an 
increased  knowledge  of  the  world  would  have  led  to  a 
wiser  policy,  if  not  to  an  avoidance  of  that  ignorant  crit- 
icism, which  at  once  denounces  everything  foreign  as 
inferior.  Richard  returned  to  England  in  1395,  after 
nine  months  of  vain  display.  He  appointed  Roger  Mor- 
timer his  viceroy.  Scarcely  had  the  king  and  his  fleet 
sailed  from  the  Irish  shores,  when  the  real  nature  of  the 
proffered  allegiance  of  seventy-two  kings  and  chieftains 
became  apparent.  The  O'Byrnes  rose  up  in  Wicklow, 
and  were  defeated  by  the  viceroy  and  the  earl  of  Or- 
monde ;  the  MacCarthys  rose  up  in  Munster,  and  bal- 
anced affairs  by  gaining  a  victory  over  the  English. 
The  earl  of  Kildare  was  captured  by  Calvagh  O'Connor, 
of  Offaly,  in  1398  ;  and,  in  the  same  year,  the  O'Briens 
and  O'Tooles  avenged  their  late  defeat,  by  a  great  vic- 
tory, at  Kenlis,  in  Ossory 

In  1399  king  Richard  paid  another  visit  to  Ireland. 
His  exactions  and  oppressions  had  made  him  very  un- 
popular in  England,  and  it  is  probable  that  this  expedi- 
tion was  planned  to  divert  the  minds  of  his  subjects. 
If  this  was  his  object,  it  failed  signally ;  for  the  unfor- 
tunate monarch  was  deposed  by  Parliament  the  same 
year,  and  was  obliged  to  perform  the  act  of  abdication 


VICEROYALTY  OF  THOMAS  LANCASTER. 


229 


with  the  best  grace  he  could.  His  unhappy  end  belongs 
to  English  history.  Richard  again  landed  in  state  at 
Waterford,  and  soon  after  marched  against  the  indom- 
itable MacMurrough,  who  had  contrived  to  keep  the 
English  settlers  in  continual  alarm.  The  Irish  chief, 
however,  was  not  easihr  subdued,  and  as  Richard's  army 
was  on  the  verge  of  starvation,  he  was  obliged  to  break 
up  his  camp  and  march  to  Dublin.  Upon  his  arrival  there, 
MacMurrough  made  overtures  for  peace,  which  were 
gladly  accepted,  and  the  earl  of  Gloucester  proceeded 
at  once  to  arrange  terms  with  him.  But  no  reconciliation 
could  be  effected,  as  both  parties  refused  to  yield.  When 
Richard  heard  the  result,  "  he  flew  into  a  violent  passion, 
and  swore  by  St.  Edward  he  would  not  leave  Ireland 
until  he  had  MacMurrough  in  his  hands,  dead  or  alive. " 
How  little  he  imagined,  when  uttering  the  mighty  boast, 
that  his  own  fate  was  even  then  sealed  !  War  had  al- 
ready begun  between  York  and  Lancaster,  and  for  years 
England  was  a  prey  to  home  dissensions  which  left  those 
thus  occupied  but  little  time  for  foreign  affairs.  On  the 
accession  of  Henry  IV.,  his  second  son,  Thomas,  duke 
of  Lancaster,  was  made  viceroy,  and  landed  at  Bullock, 
near  Dalkey,  on  Sunday,  November  13,  1402.  As  the 
youth  was  but  twelve  years  of  age,  a  Council  was 
appointed  to  assist  him.  Soon  after  his  arrival,  the  said 
Council  despatched  a  piteous  document  from  "  Le  Naas," 
in  which  they  represent  themselves  and  their  youthful 
ruler  as  on  the  very  verge  of  starvation,  in  consequence 
of  not  having  received  remittances  from  England.  In 
conclusion,  they  gently  allude  to  the  possibility  —  of 
course  carefully  deprecated  —  of  "  peril  and  disaster" 
befalling  their  lord  if  further  delay  should  be  permitted. 
The  king,  however,  was  not  in  a  position  to  tax  his  Eng- 
lish subjects  ;  and  we  find  the  prince  himself  writing  to 
his  royal  father  on  the  same  matter,  at  the  close  of  the 
year  1402.  He  mentions  also  that  he  had  entertained 
the  knights  and  squires  with  such  cheer  as  could  be  pro- 
cured under  the  circumstances,  and  adds:  "I,  by  the 
advice  of  my  Council,  rode  against  the  Irish,  your  ene- 
mies, and  did  my  utmost  to  harass  them." 

John  Duke,  the  then  mayor  of  Dublin,  obtained  the 
privilege  of  having  the  sword  borne  before  the  chief 
magistrate  of  that  city,  as  a  reward  for  his  services  in 


230 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


routing  the  O'Byrnes  of  Wicklow.  About  the  same 
time  John  Dowdall,  sheriff  of  Louth,  was  murdered  in 
Dublin,  by  Sir  Bartholomew  Vernon  and  three  other 
English  gentlemen,  who  were  outlawed  for  this  and 
other  crimes,  but  soon  after  received  the  royal  pardon. 
In  1404  the  English  were  defeated  in  Leix.  In  1405  Art 
MacMurrough  committed  depredations  at  Wexford  and 
elsewhere,  and  in  1406  the  settlers  suffered  a  severe  re- 
verse in  Meath. 

Sir  Stephen  Scroope  had  been  appointed  deputy  for 
the  royal  viceroy,  and  he  led  an  army  against  MacMur- 
rough, who  was  defeated  after  a  gallant  resistance.  In 
1412  the  O'Neills  desolated  Ulster  with  their  feuds,  and 
about  the  same  time  the  English  merchants  of  Dublin  and 
Drogheda  armed  to  defend  themselves  against  the  Scotch 
merchants,  who  had  committed  several  acts  of  piracy. 
Henry  V.  succeeded  his  father  in  1413,  and  appointed 
Sir  John  Stanley  lord  deputy.  He  signalized  himself  by 
his  exactions  and  cruelties,  and,  according  to  the  Irish 
account,  was  "rhymed  to  death "  by  the  poet,  Niall 
O'Higgin,  of  Usnagh,  whom  he  had  plundered  in  a  foray. 
Sir  John  Talbot  was  the  next  governor.  He  began  his 
career  with  a  series  of  exploits  against  "the  enemy," 
which  won  golden  opinions  from  the  inhabitants  of  "  the 
Pale."  Probably  the  news  of  his  success  induced  his 
royal  master  to  recall  him  to  England,  that  he  might  have 
his  assistance  in  his  French  wars. 

His  departure  was  a  general  signal  for  "the  enemy  " 
to  enact  reprisals.  O'Connor  despoiled  the  Pale,  and  the 
invincible  Art  MacMurrough  performed  his  last  military 
exploit  at  Wexford  (a.  d.  1416),  where  he  took  three 
hundred  and  forty  prisoners  in  one  day.  He  died  the  fol- 
lowing year,  and  Ireland  lost  one  of  the  bravest  and  best 
of  her  sons.  The  Annals  describe  him  as  "  a  man  who 
had  defended  his  own  province  against  the  English  and 
Irish  from  his  sixteenth  to  his  sixtieth  year ;  a  man  full 
of  hospitality,  knowledge,  and  chivalry."  It  is  said  that 
he  was  poisoned  by  a  woman  at  New  Ross,  but  no  mo- 
tive is  mentioned  for  the  crime.  His  son  Donough,  who 
has  an  equal  reputation  for  valor,  was  made  prisoner 
two  }7ears  after  by  the  lord  deputy,  and  imprisoned  in 
the  Tower  of  London.  O'Connor  of  Offaly,  another  chief- 
tain who  had  also  distinguished  himself  against  the  Eng- 


POSITION  OF  THE  IRISH  OF  ENGLISH  DESCENT.  231 

lish,  died  about  this  time.  He  had  entered  the  Francis- 
can monastery  of  Killeigh  a  month  before  his  death. 

The  Irish  of  English  descent  were  made  to  feel  their 
position  painfully  at  the  close  of  this  reign,  and  this 
might  have  led  the  new  settlers  to  reflect,  if  capable  of 
reflection,  that  their  descendants  would  soon  find  them- 
selves in  a  similar  condition.  The  commons  presented 
a  petition,  complaining  of  the  extortions  and  injustices 
practised  by  the  deputies,  some  of  whom  had  left  enor- 
mous debts  unpaid.  They  also  represented  the  injustice 
of  excluding  Irish  law  students  from  the  Inns  of  Court 
in  London.  A  few  years  previous  (a.  d.  1417),  the  set- 
tlers had  presented  a  petition  to  Parliament,  praying  that 
no  Irishman  should  be  admitted  to  any  office  or  benefice 
in  the  Church,  and  that  no  bishop  should  be  permitted 
to  bring  an  Irish  servant  with  him  when  he  came  to  at- 
tend Parliament  or  Council.  This  petition  was  granted  ; 
and  soon  after  an  attempt  was  made  to  prosecute  the 
archbishop  of  Cashel,  who  had  presumed  to  disregard 
some  of  its  enactments. 

Henry  VI.  succeeded  to  the  English  throne  while  still 
a  mere  infant,  and,  as  usual,  the  "  Irish  question  "  was 
found  to  be  one  of  the  greatest  difficulties  of  the  new 
administration.  The  O'Neills  had  been  carrying  on  a 
domestic  feud  in  Ulster ;  but  they  had  just  united  to 
attack  the  English,  when  Edward  Mortimer,  Earl  of 
March,  assumed  the  government  of  Ireland  (a.  d.  1425). 
He  died  of  the  plague  the  following  year  ;•  but  his  suc- 
cessor in  office,  lord  Furnival,  contrived  to  capture  a 
number  of  the  northern  chieftains,  who  were  negotiating 
peace  with  Mortimer  at  the  very  time  of  his  death. 
Owen  O'Neill  was  ransomed,  but  the  indignation  excited 
by  this  act  served  only  to  arouse  angry  feelings  ;  and 
the  northerns  united  against  their  enemies,  and  soon 
recovered  any  territory  they  had  lost. 

Donough  MacMurrough  was  released  from  the  Tower 
in  1428,  after  nine  years'  captivity.  It  is  said  the  Lein- 
ster  men  paid  a  heavy  ransom  for  him.  The  young 
prince's  compulsory  residence  in  England  did  not  lessen 
his  disaffection,  for  he  made  war  on  the  settlers  as  soon 
as  he  returned  to  his  paternal  dominions.  The  great 
family  feud  between  the  Houses  of  York  and  Lancaster 
had  but  little  effect  on  the  state  of  Ireland;  Different 


232 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


members  of  the  two  great  factions  had  held  the  office  of 
lord  justice  in  that  country,  but,  with  one  exception, 
they  did  not  obtain  any  personal  influence  there.  In- 
deed, the  viceroy  of  those  days,  whether  an  honest  man 
or  a  knave,  was  sure  to  be  unpopular  with  some  party. 

The  Yorkists  and  Lancastrians  were  descended  directly 
from  Edward  III.  The  first  duke  of  York  was  Edward's 
fifth  son,  Edmund  Plantagenet ;  the  first  duke  of  Lancas- 
ter was  John  of  Gaunt,  the  fourth  son  of  the  same  mon- 
arch. Richard  II.  succeeded  his  grandfather,  Edward 
III.,  as  the  son  of  Edward  the  Black  Prince,  so  famedin 
English  chivalry.  His  arrogance  and  extravagance  soon 
made  him  unpopular  ;  and,  during  his  absence  in  Ireland, 
the  duke  of  Lancaster,  whom  he  had  banished,  and  treated 
most  unjustly,  returned  to  England,  and  fomented  the 
fatal  quarrel.  The  king  was  obliged  to  return  immedi- 
ately, and  committed  the  government  of  the  country  to 
his  cousin,  Roger  de  Mortimer,  who  was  next  in  succes- 
sion to  the  English  crown,  in  right  of  his  mother,  Philippa, 
the  only  child  of  the  duke  of  Clarence,  third  son  of  Ed- 
ward III.  The  death  of  this  nobleman  opened  the  way 
for  the  intrusion  of  the  Lancastrians,  the  duke  of  Lan- 
caster having  obtained  the  crown  during  the  lifetime  of 
Richard,  to  the  exclusion  of  the  rightful  heir-apparent, 
Edmund,  earl  of  March,  son  to  the  late  viceroy. 

The  feuds  of  the  earl  of  Ormonde  and  the  Talbots  in 
Ireland  proved  nearly  as  great  a  calamity  to  that  nation 
as  the  disputes  about  the  English  succession.  A  Par- 
liament was  held  in  Dublin  in  1441,  in  which  Richard 
Talbot,  the  English  archbishop  of  Dublin,  proceeded  to 
lay  various  requests  before  the  king,  the  great  object  of 
which  was  the  overthrow  of  the  earl,  who,  by  the  inter- 
marrying of  his  kinsmen  with  the  Irish,  possessed  great 
influence  among  the  native  septs  contiguous  to  his  own 
territory.  The  petitioners  pray  that  the  government  may 
be  committed  to  some  "  mighty  English  lord  ;  "  and  they 
moderately  request  that  the  said  "  mighty  lord  "  may  be 
permitted  to  create  temporal  peers.  They  hint  at  the 
earl's  age  as  an  objection  to  his  administration  of  justice, 
and  assert  that  "  the  lieutenant  should  be  a  mighty, 
courageous,  and  laborious  man,  to  keep  the  field  and 
make  resistance  against  the  enemy. "  But  the  great 
crime  alleged  against  him  is  that  "  he  hath  ordained  and 


sir  giles  Thornton's  report. 


233 


made  Irishmen,  and  grooms  and  pages  of  his  household, 
knights  of  the  shire."  These  representations,  however, 
had  but  little  weight  in  the  quarter  to  which  they  were 
addressed,  for  Ormonde  was  a  stout  Lancastrian  ;  and 
if  he  had  sinned  more  than  his  predecessors,  his  guilt 
was  covered  by  the  ample  cloak  of  royal  partiality. 
However,  some  appearance  of  justice  was  observed.  Sir 
Giles  Thornton  was  sent,  over  to  Ireland  to  make  a 
report,  which  was  so  very  general  that  it  charged  no 
one  in  particular,  but  simply  intimated  that  there  was 
no  justice  to  be  had  for  any  party,  and  that  discord  and 
division  prevailed  amongst  all  the  king's  officers.  The 
system  of  appointing  deputies  for  different  offices  was 
very  properly  condemned,  and  the  rather  startling  an- 
nouncement made,  that  the  annual  expenses  of  the  vice- 
roy and  his  officers  exceeded  all  the  revenues  of  Ireland 
for  that  year  by  4,456Z.  In  fact,  it  could  not  be  other- 
wise ;  for  every  official,  lay  and  ecclesiastical,  English 
and  Anglo-Irish,  appear  to  have  combined  in  one  vast 
system  of  peculation,  and,  when  it  was  possible,  of 
wholesale  robbery.  Even  the  loyal  burghers  of  Lim- 
erick, Cork,  and  Galway  had  refused  to  pay  their  debts 
to  the  crown,  and  the  representatives  of  royalty  were 
not  in  a  position  to  enforce  payment.  The  Talbot  party 
seems  to  have  shared  the  blame  quite  equally  with  the 
Ormondes,  and  the  churchmen  in  power  were  just  as 
rapacious  as  the  seculars.  After  having  ruined  the 
"mere  Irish,"  the  plunderers  themselves  were  on  the 
verge  of  ruin  ;  and  the  Privy  Council  declared  that  unless 
an  immediate  remedy  was  applied,  the  law  courts  should 
be  closed,  and  the  royal  castles  abandoned.  Further 
complaints  were  made  in  1444 ;  and  Robert  Maxwell,  a 
groom  of  the  royal  chamber,  was  despatched  to  Ireland 
with  a  summons  to  Ormonde,  commanding  him  to  appear 
before  the  king  and  Council. 

The  earl  at  once  collected  his  followers  and  adherents 
in  Drogheda,  where  they  declared,  in  the  presence  of 
the  king's  messenger,  as  in  duty  bound,  that  their  lord 
had  never  been  guilty  of  the  treasons  and  extortions 
with  which  he  was  charged,  and  that  they  were  all  thank- 
ful for  "  his  good  and  gracious  government :  "  further- 
more, they  hint  that  he  had  expended  his  means  in  de- 
fending the  king's  possessions.    However,  the  earl  was 


234 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


obliged  to  clear  himself  personally  of  these  charges  in 
London,  where  he  was  acquitted  with  honor  by  his  royal 
master. 

His  enemy,  Sir  John  Talbot,  known  better  in  English 
history  as  the  earl  of  Shrewsbury,  succeeded  him,  in 
1446.  This  nobleman  had  been  justly  famous  for  his 
valor  in  the  wars  with  France,  and  it  is  said  that  even 
mothers  frightened  their  children  with  his  name.  His 
success  in  Ireland  was  not  at  all  commensurate  with  his 
fame  in  foreign  warfare,  for  he  only  succeeded  so  far 
with  the  native  princes  as  to  compel  O'Connor  Faly  to 
make  peace  with  the  English  government,  to  ransom  his 
sons,  and  to  supply  some  beeves  for  the  king's  kitchen. 
Talbot  held  a  Parliament  at  Trim,  in  which,  for  the  first 
time,  an  enactment  was  made  about  personal  appearance, 
which  widened  the  fatal  breach  still  more  between  Eng- 
land and  Ireland.  This  law  declared  that  every  man 
who  did  not  shave  his  upper  lip  should  be  treated  as  an 
"  Irish  enemy;  "  and  the  said  shaving  was  to  be  per- 
formed once,  at  least,  in  every  two  weeks. 

In  the  year  1447  Ireland  was  desolated  by  a  fearful 
plague,  in  which  seven  hundred  priests  are  said  to  have 
fallen  victims,  probably  from  their  devoted  attendance  on 
the  sufferers.  In  the  same  year  Felim  O'Reilly  was  taken 
prisoner  treacherously  by  the  lord  deputy  ;  and  Finola, 
the  daughter  of  Calvagh  O'Oonnor  Faly,  and  wife  of 
Hugh  Boy  O'Neill,  "  the  most  beautiful  and  stately,  the 
most  renowned  and  illustrious  woman  of  all  her  time  in 
Ireland,  her  own  mother  only  excepted,  retired  from  this 
transitory  world,  to  prepare  for  eternal  life,  and  assumed 
the  yoke  of  piety  and  devotion  in  the  monastery  of  Cill- 
Achaidh." 

This  lady's  mother,  Margaret  O'Connor,  was  the  daugh- 
ter of  O'Carroll,  king  of  Ely,  and  well  deserved  the  com- 
mendation bestowed  upon  her.  She  was  the  great  pat- 
roness of  the  literati  of  Ireland,  whom  she  entertained 
at  two  memorable  feasts.  The  first  festival  was  held  at 
Killeigh,  in  the  King's  County,  on  the  feast-day  of  Da 
Sinchell  (St.  Seanchan,  March  26).  All  the  chiefs,  bre- 
hons,  and  bards  of  Ireland  and  Scotland  were  invited, 
and  two  thousand  seven  hundred  guests  are  said  to  have 
answered  the  summons.  The  lady  Margaret  received 
them  clothed  in  cloth  of  gold,  and  seated  in  queenly 


LADY  MARGARET  (^CONNOR. 


235 


state.  She  opened  the  "congress"  by  presenting  two 
massive  chalices  of  gold  on  the  high  altar  of  the  church 
—  an  act  of  duty  towards  God ;  and  then  took  two 
orphan  children  to  rear  and  nurse  —  an  act  of  charity  to 
her  neighbor.  Her  noble  husband,  who  had  already 
distinguished  himself  in  the  field,  on  many  occasions, 
remained  on  his  charger  outside  the  church,  to  welcome 
his  visitors  as  they  arrived.  The  second  entertainment 
was  given  on  the  Feast  of  the  Assumption  in  the  same 
year,  and  was  intended  to  include  all  who  had  not  been 
able  to  accept  the  first  invitation.  The  chronicler  con- 
cludes his  account  with  a  blessing  on  lady  Margaret,  and 
a  curse  on  the  disease  which  deprived  the  world  of  so 
noble  an  example :  "  God's  blessing,  the  blessing  of 
all  the  saints,  and  every  blessing  be  upon  her  going  to 
heaven  ;  and  blessed  be  he  that  will  hear  and  read  this, 
for  blessing  her  soul."  It  is  recorded  of  her,  also,  that 
she  was  indefatigable  in  building  churches,  erecting 
bridges,  preparing  highways,  and  providing  Mass-books. 
It  is  a  bright  picture  on  a  dark  page  ;  and  though  there 
may  not  have  been  many  ladies  so  liberal  or  so  devoted 
to  learning  at  thatperiod  in  Ireland,  still  the  general  state 
of  female  education  could  not  have  been  neglected,  or 
such  an  example  could  not  have  been  found  or  appreci- 
ated. Felim  O'Connor,  her  son,  died  in  the  same  year  as 
his  mother ;  he  is  described  as  "  a  man  of  great  fame  and 
renown."  He  had  been  ill  of  decline  for  a  long  time,  and 
only  one  night  intervened  between  the  death  of  the 
mother  and  the  son,  a.  d.  1451.  Calvagh  died  in  1458, 
and  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  Con,  who  was  not  un- 
worthy of  his  noble  ancestry. 

In  1449  the  duke  of  York  was  sent  to  undertake  the 
viceregal  office  in  Ireland.  His  appointment  is  attributed 
to  the  all-powerful  influence  of  queen  Margaret,  and  its 
object  was  to  deprive  the  English  Yorkists  of  his  power- 
ful support  and  influence.  In  Ireland  he  soon  became 
popular,  and  appears  to  have  been  one  of  the  few  vice- 
roys who  attempted  any  thing  like  a  conciliatory  policy 
in  that  country. 

The  cities  of  Cork,  Kinsale,  and  Youghal,  now  sent 
in  petitions  to  him,  f  omplaining  bitterly  of  the  way  in 
which  the  English  noblemen  "fall  at  variance  among 


236 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


themselves, 99  so  that  the  whole  country  was  desolated. 
The  settlers  of  Waterford  and  Wexford  made  similar 
complaints  against  an  Irish  chieftain,  O'Driscoll,  whom 
they  describe  as  "  an  Irish  enemy  to  the  king  and  to  all 
his  liege  people  of  Ireland."  The  duke  pacified  all  par- 
ties, and  succeeded  in  attaching  the  majority  of  the  na- 
tion more  and  more  to  his  person  and  his  interests.  His 
English  friends,  who  looked  on  his  residence  in  Ireland 
as  equivalent  to  banishment  and  imprisonment,  were 
actively  employed  in  promoting  his  return.  The  dis- 
graceful loss  of  the  English  possessions  in  France,  and 
probably  still  more  the  haughty  and  unconciliatory  pol- 
icy adopted  by  the  queen,  had  strengthened  the  Yorkist 
party,  and  emboldened  them  to  action.  The  duke  was 
requested  to  return  to  England,  where  the  insurgents  in 
Kent  had  already  risen  under  the  leadership  of  the  fa- 
mous Jack  Cade,  whose  origin  is  involved  in  hopeless 
obscurity,  and  whose  character  has  been  so  blackened 
by  writers  on  the  Lancastrian  side  that  it  is  equally  in- 
comprehensible. He  called  himself  John  Mortimer,  and 
asserted  that  he  was  cousin  to  the  viceroy.  A  proclam- 
ation, offering  one  thousand  marks  for  his  person,  "  quick 
or  dead,7'  described  him  as  born  in  Ireland.  In  conse- 
quence of  the  non-payment  of  the  annuity  which  had  been 
promised  to  the  duke  during  his  viceroyalty,  he  had 
been  obliged  to  demand  assistance  from  the  Irish,  who 
naturally  resisted  so  unjust  a  tax.  After  useless  appeals 
to  the  king  and  parliament,  he  returned  to  England  sud- 
denly, in  September,  1450,  leaving  Sir  James  Butler,  the 
eldest  son  of  the  earl  of  Ormonde,  as  his  deputy. 

The  history  of  the  Wars  of  the  Roses  does  not  belong 
to  our  province ;  it  must,  therefore,  suffice  to  say,  that 
when  his  party  was  defeated  in  England  for  a  time,  he 
fled  to  Ireland,  where  he  was  enthusiastically  received, 
and  exercised  the  office  of  viceroy  at  the  very  time  that 
an  act  of  attainder  was  passed  against  him  and  his  fam- 
ily. He  soon  returned  again  to  his  own  country ;  and 
there,  after  more  than  one  brilliant  victory,  he  was  slain 
at  the  battle  of  Wakefield,  on  the  31st  of  December,  1460. 
Three  thousand  of  his  followers  are  said  to  have  perished 
with  him,  and  among  the  number#were  several  Irish 
chieftains  from  Meath  and  Ulster.    The  Geraldines  sided 


THE  EARLS  OF  KILDARE  AND  DESMOND.  237 

with  the  house  of  York,  and  the  Butlers  with  the  Lan- 
castrians :  hence  members  of  both  families  fell  on  this 
fatal  field  on  opposite  sides. 

The  earl  of  Kildare  was  lord  justice  on  the  accession 
of  Edward  IV.,  who  at  once  appointed  his  unfortunate 
brother,  the  duke  of  Clarence,  to  that  dignity.  The  earls 
of  Ormonde  and  Desmond  were  at  war  (a.  d.  1462),  and 
a  pitched  battle  was  fought  at  Pilltown,  in  the  county 
Kilkenny,  where  the  former  was  defeated  with  consider- 
able loss.  His  kinsman,  MacRichard  Butler,  was  taken 
prisoner ;  and  we  may  judge  of  the  value  of  a  book,  and 
the  respect  for  literature  in  Ireland  at  that  period,  from 
the  curious  fact  that  a  manuscript  was  offered  and  ac- 
cepted for  his  ransom. 

The  eighth  earl  of  Desmond,  Thomas,  was  made  vice- 
roy in  1462.  He  was  a  special  favorite  with  the  king. 
In  1466  he  led  an  army  of  the  English  of  Meath  and 
Leinster  against  O'Connor  Faly,  but  he  was  defeated 
and  taken  prisoner  in  the  engagement.  Teigue  O'Con- 
nor, the  earl's  brother-in-law,  conducted  the  captives  to 
Carbury  castle,  in  Kildare,  where  they  were  soon  liber- 
ated by  the  people  of  Dublin.  The  Irish  were  very  suc- 
cessful in  their  forays  at  this  period.  The  men  of  Offaly 
devastated  the  country  from  Tara  to  Naas  ;  the  men  of 
BrefTni  and  Oriel  performed  similar  exploits  in  Meath. 
Teigue  O'Brien  plundered  Desmond,  and  obliged  the 
Burkes  of  Clanwilliam  to  acknowledge  his  authority, 
and  only  spared  the  city  of  Limerick  for  a  consideration 
of  sixty  marks. 

The  earl  of  Desmond  appears  to  have  exerted  himself  • 
in  every  way  for  the  national  benefit.  He  founded  a 
college  in  Youghal,  with  a  warden,  eight  fellows,  and 
eight  choristers.  He  obtained  an  act  for  the  establish- 
ment of  a  university  at  Drogheda,  which  was  to  have 
similar  privileges  to  that  of  Oxford.  He  is  described  by 
native  annalists  —  almost  as  loud  in  their  praises  of 
learning  as  of  valor  —  as  well  versed  in  literature,  and 
a  warm  patron  of  antiquaries  and  poets.  But  his  liber- 
ality proved  his  ruin.  He  was  accused  of  making  alli- 
ances and  fosterage  with  the  king's  Irish  enemies  ;  and 
perhaps  he  had  also  incurred  the  enmity  of  the  queen 
(Elizabeth  Woodville),  for  it  was  hinted  that  she  had 
some  share  in  his  condemnation.    It  is  at  least  certain 


238 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


that  he  was  beheaded  at  Drogheda,  on  the  15th  of  Feb- 
ruary, 1467,  by  the  command  ofTyptoft,  earl  of  Worces- 
ter, who  was  sent  to  Ireland  to  take  his  place  as  viceroy, 
and  to  execute  the  unjust  sentence.  The  earl  of  Kildare 
was  condemned  at  the  same  time,  but  he  escaped  to 
England,  and  pleaded  his  cause  so  well  with  the  king 
and  Parliament,  that  he  obtained  his  own  pardon,  and  a 
reversal  of  the  attainder  against  the  unfortunate  earl  of 
Desmond. 

The  English  power  in  Ireland  was  reduced  at  this  time 
to  the  lowest  degree  of  weakness.  This  power  had 
never  been  other  than  nominal  beyond  the  Pale  ;  within 
its  precincts  it  was  on  the  whole  all  powerful.  But  now 
a  few  archers  and  spearmen  were  its  only  defence  ;  and 
had  the  Irish  combined  under  a  competent  leader,  there 
can  be  little  doubt  that  the  result  would  have  been  fatal 
to  the  colony.  It  would  appear  as  if  Henry  VII.  hoped 
to  propitiate  the  Yorkists  in  Ireland,  as  he  allowed  the 
earl  of  Kildare  to  hold  the  office  of  lord  deputy  ;  his 
brother,  Thomas  FitzGerald,  that  of  chancellor  ;  and  his 
father-in-law,  FitzEustace,  that  of  lord  treasurer.  After 
a  short  time,  however,  he  restored  the  earl  of  Ormonde 
to  the  family  honors  and  estates,  and  thus  a  Lancastrian 
influence  was  secured.  The  most  important  events  of 
this  reign,  as  far  as  Ireland  is  concerned,  are  the  plots 
of  Simnel  and  Perkin  Warbeck,  and  the  enactments  of 
Poyning's  Parliament.  A  contemporary  Irish  chronicler 
says  :  "The  son  of  a  Welshman,  by  whom  the  battle  of 
Bosworth  field  was  fought,  was  made  king  ;  and  there 
lived  not  of  the  royal  blood,  at  that  time,  but  one  youth, 
who  came  the  next  year  (1486)  in  exile  to  Ireland." 

The  native  Irish  appear  not  to  have  had  the  least 
doubt  that  Simnel  was  what  he  represented  himself  to  be. 
The  Anglo-Irish  nobles  were  nearly  all  devoted  to  the 
House  of  York  ;  but  it  is  impossible  now  to  determine 
whether  they  were  really  deceived,  or  if  they  only  made 
the  youth  a  pretext  for  rebellion.  His  appearance  is 
admitted  by  all  parties  to  have  been  in  his  favor ;  but 
the  king  asserted  that  the  real  earl  of  Warwick  was  then 
confined  in  the  tower,  and  paraded  him  through  London 
as  soon  as  the  pseudo-noble  was  crowned  in  Ireland. 

In  1488  Sir  Richard  Edgecumbe  was  sent  to  Ireland 
to  exact  new  oaths  of  allegiance  from  the  Anglo-Norman 


THE  PLOT  OF  PERKIN  WARBECK. 


239 


lords,  whose  fidelity  Henry  appears  to  have  doubted,  and 
not  without  reason.  The  commissioner  took  up  his  lodg- 
ings with  the  Dominican  friars,  who  appear  to  have 
been  more  devoted  to  the  English  interests  than  their 
Franciscan-  brethren ;  but  they  did  not  entertain  the 
knight  at  their  own  expense,  for  he  complains  grievously 
of  his  "  great  costs  and  charges. "  A  papal  Bull  had 
been  procured,  condemning  all  who  had  rebelled  against 
the  king.  This  was  published  by  the  bishop  of  Meath, 
with  a  promise  of  absolution  and  royal  pardon  for  all 
who  should  repent.  Edgecumbe  appears  to  have  been 
at  his  wit's  end  to  conciliate  the  "  rebels,"  and  informs 
us  that  he  spent  the  night  in  "  devising  as  sure  an  oath 
as  he  could."  The  nobles  at  last  came  to  terms,  and 
took  the  proffered  pledge  in  the  most  solemn  manner. 
This  accomplished,  the  knight  returned  to  England  ;  and 
on  his  safe  arrival,  after  a  stormy  passage,  made  a  pil- 
grimage to  Saint  Saviour's,  in  Cornwall.  It  is  quite  im- 
possible now  to  judge  whether  these  solemn  oaths  were 
made  to  be  broken,  or  whether  the  temptation  to  break 
them  proved  stronger  than  the  resolution  to  keep  them. 
It  is  at  least  certain  that  they  were  broken,  and  that  in  a 
year  or  two  after  the  earl  of  Kildare  had  received  his  par- 
don under  the  great  seal.  In  May,  1492,  the  Warbeck  plot 
was  promulgated  in  Ireland,  and  an  adventurer  landed 
on  the  Irish  shores,  who  declared  himself  to  be  Richard, 
duke  of  York,  the  second  son  of  Edward  IV.,  who  was 
supposed  to  have  perished  in  the  Tower.  His  stay  in 
Ireland,  however,  was  brief,  although  he  was  favorably 
received.  The  French  monarch  entertained  him  with  the 
honors  due  to  a  crowned  head  ;  but  this,  probably,  was 
purely  for  political  purposes,  as  he  was  discarded  as 
soon  as  peace  had  been  made  with  England.  He  next 
visited  Margaret,  the  dowager  duchess  of  Burgundy, 
who  treated  him  as  if  he  were  really  her  nephew. 

Henry  now  became  seriously  alarmed  at  the  state  of 
affairs  in  Ireland,  and  sent  over  Sir  Edward  Poyning,  a 
privy  councillor  and  a  knight  of  the  garter,  to  the  trou- 
blesome colony.  He  was  attended  by  some  eminent 
English  lawyers,  and  what  was  of  considerably  greater 
importance,  by  a  force  of  a  thousand  men. 

The  first  step  was  to  hunt  out  the  abettors  of  War- 
beck's  insurrection,  who  had  taken  refuge  in  the  north ; 


240 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


but  the  moment  the  deputy  marched  against  them,  the 
earl  of  Kildare's  brother  rose  in  open  rebellion,  and  seized 
Carlow  castle.  The  viceroy  was,  therefore,  obliged  to 
make  peace  with  O'Hanlon  and  Magennis,  and  to  return 
south.  After  recovering  the  fortress,  he  held  a  Parlia- 
ment at  Drogheda,  in  the  month  of  November,  1494. 
In  this  Parliament  the  celebrated  statute  was  enacted, 
which  provided  that  henceforth  no  Parliament  should  be 
held  in  Ireland  until  the  chief  governor  and  council  had 
first  certified  to  the  king,  under  the  great  seal,  as  well 
the  causes  and  considerations  as  the  Acts  they  designed 
to  pass,  and  till  the  same  should  be  approved  by  the  king 
and  council.  This  Act  obtained  the  name  of  "Poyning's 
Law."  It  became  a  serious  grievance  when  the  whole 
of  Ireland  was  brought  under  English  government ;  but 
at  the  time  of  its  enactment  it  could  only  affect  the  in- 
habitants of  the  Pale,1  who  formed  a  very  small  portion 
of  the  population  of  that  country ;  and  the  colonists  re- 
garded it  rather  favorably  as  a  means  of  protecting  them 
against  the  legislative  oppressions  of  the  viceroys. 

The  general  object  of  the  Act  was  nominally  to  reduce 
the  people  to  "  whole  and  perfect  obedience."  The  at- 
tempt to  accomplish  this  desirable  end  had  been  contin- 
ued for  rather  more  than  two  hundred  years,  and  had  not 
yet  been  attained.  The  Parliament  of  Drogheda  did  not 
succeed,  although  the  viceroy  returned  to  England  after- 
wards under  the  happy  conviction  that  he  had  perfectly 
accomplished  his  mission.  Acts  were  also  passed  that 
ordnance  should  not  be  kept  in  fortresses  without  the 
viceregal  license  ;  that  the  lords  spiritual  and  temporal 
were  to  appear  in  their  robes  in  Parliament,  for  the  Eng- 
lish lords  of  Ireland  had,  "  through  penuriousness,  done 
away  the  said  robes  to  their  own  great  dishonor,  and  the 
rebuke  of  all  the  whole  land  ; 77  that  the  "  many  damna- 
ble customs  and  uses,"  practised  by  the  Anglo-Norman 
.lords  and  gentlemen,  under  the  names  of  "  coigne,  livery, 
and  pay,"  should  be  reforined ;  that  the  inhabitants  on 
the  frontiers  of  the  four  shires  should  forthwith  build  and 
maintain  a  double  ditch,  raised  six  feet  above  the  ground 
on  the  side  which  "meared  next  unto  the  Irishmen," 

1  The  word  "  Pale  "  came  to  be  applied  to  that  part  of  Ireland  occu- 
pied by  the  English,  in  consequence  of  one  of  the  enactments  ot 
Poyning's  Parliament,  which  required  all  the  colonists  to  "pale  "in 
or  enclose  that  portion  of  the  country  possessed  by  the  English. 


THE  EARL  OF  KILDARE  TRIED  FOR  TREASON.  241 


bo  that  the  said  Irishmen  should  be  kept  out ;  that  all 
subjects  were  to  provide  themselves  with  cuirasses  and 
helmets,  with  English  bows  and  sheaves  of  arrows  ;  that 
every  parish  should  be  provided  with  a  pair  of  butts,  and 
the  constables  were  ordered  to  call  the  parishioners 
before  them  on,  holidays,  to  shoot  at  least  two  or  three 
games. 

The  Irish  war  cries,  which  had  been  adopted  by  the 
English  lords,  were  forbidden,  and  they  were  commanded 
to  call  upon  St.  George  or  the  king  of  England.  The 
statutes  of  Kilkenny  were  confirmed,  with  the  exception 
of  the  one  which  forbade  the  use  of  the  Irish  language. 
As  nearly  all  the  English  settlers  had  adopted  it,  such 
an  enactment  could  not  possibly  have  been  carried  out. 
Three  of  the  principal  nobles  of  the  country  were  absent 
from  this  assembly:  Maurice,  earl  of  Desmond,  was  in 
arms  on  behalf  of  Warbeck  ;  Gerald,  earl  of  Kildare,  was 
charged  with  treason ;  and  Thomas,  earl  of  Ormonde, 
was  residing  in  England.  The  earl  of  Kildare  was  sent 
to  England  to  answer  the  charges  of  treason  which  were 
brought  against  him.  Henry  had  discovered  that  Poyn- 
ing's  mission  had  not  been  as  successful  as  he  expected, 
and,  what  probably  influenced  him  still  more,  that  it  had 
proved  very  expensive.  He  has  the  credit  of  being  a 
wise  king  in  many  respects,  notwithstanding  his  avari- 
ciousness ;  and  he  at  once  saw  that  Kildare  would  be 
more  useful  as  a  friend,  and  less  expensive,  if  he  ceased 
to  be  an  enemy.  The  result  was  the  pardon  of  the 
"  rebel,"  his  marriage  with  the  king's  first  cousin,  Eliz- 
abeth St.  J ohn,  and  his  restoration  to  the  office  of  deputy. 
His  quick-witted  speeches,  when  examined  before  the 
king,  took  the  royal  fancy.  He  was  accused  of  having 
burned  the  cathedral  of  Cashel,  to  revenge  himself  on  the 
archbishop,  who  had  sided  with  his  enemy,  Sir  James 
Ormonde.  There  was  a  great  array  of  witnesses  pre- 
pared to  prove  the  fact ;  but  the  earl  excited  shouts  of 
laughter  by  exclaiming,  "  I  would  never  have  done  it 
had  it  not  been  told  me  the  archbishop  was  within." 

The  archbishop  was  present,  and  one  of  his  most  ac- 
tive accusers.  The  king  then  gave  him  leave  to  choose 
his  counsel,  and  time  to  prepare  his  defence:  Kildare 
exclaimed  that  he  doubted  if  he  should  be  allowed  to 
choose  the  good  fellow  whom  he  should  select.  Henry 


242 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


gave  him  his  hand  as  an  assurance  of  his  good  faith. 
"Marry,"  said  the  earl,  "I  can  see  no  better  man  in 
England  than  your  highness,  and  will  choose  no  other." 
The  affair  ended  by  his  accusers  declaring  that  "  all  Ire- 
land could  not  rule  this  earl ;  "  to  which  Henry  replied  : 
"Then,  in  good  faith,  shall  this  earl  rule  all  Ireland." 

In  August,  1489,  Kildare  was  appointed  deputy  to 
prince  Henry,  who  was  made  viceroy.  In  1498  he  was 
authorized  to  convene  a  Parliament,  which  should  not 
sit  longer  than  half  a  year.  This  was  the  first  Parlia- 
ment held  under  Poyning's  Act.  Sundry  regulations 
were  made  "  for  the  increasing  of  English  manners  and 
conditions  within  the  land,  and  for  diminishing  of  Irish 
usage."  In  1503  the  earl's  son,  Gerald,  was  appointed 
treasurer  for  Ireland  by  the  king,  who  expressed  the 
highest  approval  of  his  father's  administration.  He 
married  the  daughter  of  lord  Zouch  of  Codnor  during 
this  visit  to  England,  and  then  returned  with  his  father 
to  Ireland.  Both  father  and  son  were  treated  with  the 
utmost  consideration  at  court,  and  the  latter  took  an 
important  part  in  the  funeral  ceremonies  for  the  king's 
eldest  son,  Arthur.  The  earl  continued  in  office  during 
the  reign  of  Henry  VII.  An  interesting  letter,  which  he 
wrote  in  reply  to  an  epistle  from  the  Gherardini  of  Tus- 
cany, is  still  extant.  In  this  document  he  requests  them 
to  communicate  anything  they  can  of  the  origin  of  their 
house,  their  numbers,  and  their  ancestors.  He  informs 
them  that  it  will  give  him  the  greatest  pleasure  to  send 
them  hawks,  falcons,  horses,  or  hounds,  or  anything  that 
he  can  procure  which  they  may  desire.  He  concludes  : 
"  God  be  with  you  ;  love  us  in  return. 

"  Gerald,  chief  in  Ireland  of  the  family  of  Gherar- 
dini, earl  of  Kildare,  viceroy  of  the  most  se- 
rene kings  of  England  in  Ireland." 


ECCLESIASTICAL  AFFAIRS, 


243 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

RELIGION,  LAWS,  ARCHITECTURE,  DRESS,  AND  SOCIAL 
CUSTOMS  OF  THE  NORMAN  PERIOD. 

The  Normans  appear  to  have  divided  their  attention 
to  ecclesiastical  affairs  with  tolerable  impartiality,  be- 
tween the  occupation  of  destroying  Irish  monasteries, 
and  erecting  new  establishments  of  the  same  kind.  The 
Franciscans,  Dominicans,  Augustinians,  and  Cistercians, 
were  all  introduced  into  Ireland  about  the  same  time, 
and  some  of  the  most  beautiful  ecclesiastical  ruins  in  that 
country  date  from  this  period. 

The  abbey  of  Mellifont  was  founded  a.  d.  1142,  for 
Cistercian  monks,  by  Donough  O'Carroll,  king  of  Oriel. 
It  was  the  most  ancient  monastery  of  the  order  in  Ire- 
land, and  was  supplied  with  monks  by  St.  Bernard,  direct 
from  Clairvaux,  then  in  all  its  first  fervor.  The  date  of 
the  erection  of  St.  Mary's  abbey  in  Dublin  has  not  been 
correctly  ascertained,  but  it  is  quite  certain  that  the  Cis- 
tercians were  established  here  in  1139,  although  it  was 
probably  built  originally  by  the  Danes.  The  abbots  of 
this  monastery,  and  of  the  monastery  at  Mellifont,  sat  as 
barons  in  Parliament.  There  were  also  houses  at  Bectiff, 
county  Meath  ;  Baltinglass,  county  Wicklow  ;  Moray, 
county  Limerick  ;  Ordorney,  county  Kerry  (quaintly  and 
suggestively  called  Kyrie  Eleison),  at  Newry,  Permoy, 
Boyle,  Monasterevan,  Ashro,  and  Jerpoint.  The  supe- 
riors of  several  of  these  houses  sat  in  Parliament.  Their 
remains  attest  their  beauty  and  the  cultivated  tastes  of 
their  founders.  The  ruins  of  the  abbey  of  Holy  Cross, 
Tipperary,  founded  in  1182,  by  Donald  O'Brien,  are  of 
unusual  extent  and  magnificence.  But  the  remains  of 
Dunbrody,  in  the  county  of  Wexford,  are,  perhaps,  the 
largest  and  the  most  picturesque  of  any  in  the  kingdom. 
It  was  also  richly  endowed,  for  these  establishments  were 


244 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


erected  by  the  founders,  not  merely  as  an  act  of  piety  to 
God  during  their  lifetime,  but  with  the  hope  that  prayers 
should  be  offered  there  for  the  repose  of  their  souls  after 
death.  Tintern  Abbey  was  founded  in  the  year  1200,  by 
the  earl  of  Pembroke.  When  in  danger  at  sea  he  made 
a  vow  that  he  would  erect  a  monastery  on  whatever  place 
he  should  first  arrive  in  safety.  He  fulfilled  his  promise, 
and  brought  monks  from  Tintern,  in  Monmouthshire, 
who  gave  their  new  habitation  the  name  of  their  old 
home.  In  1224  the  Cistercians  resigned  the  monastery 
of  St.  Saviour,  Dublin,  which  had  been  erected  for  them 
by  the  same  earl,  to  the  Dominicans,  on  condition  that 
they  should  offer  a  lighted  taper  on  the  feast  of  the  na- 
tivity, at  the  abbey  of  St.  Mary,  as  an  acknowledgment 
of  the  grant.  The  mayor  of  Dublin,  John  Decer  (a.  d. 
1380),  repaired  the  church,  and  adorned  it  with  a  range 
of  massive  pillars.  The  friars  of  this  house  were  as 
distinguished  for  literature  as  the  rest  of  their  brethren  ; 
and  in  1421  they  opened  a  school  of  philosophy  and 
divinity  on  Usher's  Island. 

The  Dominican  convent  of  St.  Mary  Magdalene  at 
Drogheda  was  founded  in  1224,  by  John  Netterville, 
archbishop  of  Armagh.  Richard  II.  and  Henry  IV.  were 
great  benefactors  to  this  house.  Four  general  chapters 
were  also  held  here.  The  Black  Abbey  of  Kilkenny  was 
erected  by  the  younger  William,  earl  of  Pembroke.  Four 
general  chapters  were  also  held  here,  and  it  was  consid- 
ered one  of  the  first  houses  of  the  order  in  Ireland. 

The  Franciscan  order,  however,  appears  to  have  been 
the  most  popular,  if  we  may  judge  by  the  number  of  its 
houses.  Youghal  was  the  first  place  where  a  convent 
of  this  order  was  erected.  The  founder.  Maurice  Fitz- 
Gerald,  was  lord  justice  in  the  year  1229,  and  again  in 
1232.  He  was  a  patron  of  both  orders,  and  died  in  the 
Franciscan  habit,  on  the  20th  May,  1257.  Indeed,  some 
of  the  English  and  Irish  chieftains  were  so  devout  to  the 
two  saints,  that  they  appear  to  have  had  some  difficulty 
in  choosing  which  they  would  have  for  their  special 
patron.  In  1649  the  famous  Owen  O'Neill  was  buried 
in  a  convent  of  the  order  at  Cavan.  When  dying  he 
desired  that  he  should  be  clothed  in  the  Dominican  habit, 
and  buried  in  the  Franciscan  monastery. 

Some  curious  particulars  are  related  of  the  foundation 


ECCLESIASTICAL  AFFAIRS. 


245 


at  Youghal.  The  earl  was  building  a  mansion  for  his 
family  in  the  town,  about  the  year  1231.  While  the 
workmen  were  engaged  in  laying  the  foundation,  they 
begged  some  money,  on  the  eve  of  a  great  feast,  that 
they  might  drink  to  the  health  of  their  noble  employer. 
FitzGerald  willingly  complied  with  their  request,  and 
desired  his  eldest  son  to  be  the  bearer  of  his  bounty. 
The  young  nobleman,  however,  less  generous  than  his 
father,  not  only  refused  to  give  them  the  money,  but  had 
angry  words  with  the  workmen.  It  is  not  mentioned 
whether  the  affair  came  to  a  more  serious  collision  ;  but 
the  earl,  highly  incensed  with  the  conduct  of  his  son, 
ordered  the  workmen  to  erect  a  monastery  instead  of  a 
castle,  and  bestowed  the  house  upon  the  Franciscan 
fathers.  The  following  year  he  took  their  habit,  and 
lived  in  the  convent  until  his  death.  This  house  was  com- 
pletely destroyed  during  the  persecutions  in  the  reign  of 
Elizabeth. 

The  convent  of  Kilkenny  was  founded  immediately 
after.  Its  benefactor  was  the  earl  of  Pembroke,  who  was 
buried  in  the  church.  Here  was  a  remarkable  spring, 
dedicated  to  St.  Francis,  at  which  many  miraculous  cures 
are  said  to  have  been  wrought.  The  site  occupied  by 
this  building  was  very  extensive  ;  its  ruins  only  remain 
to  tell  how  spacious  and  beautiful  its  abbey  and  church 
must  have  been.  It  was  also  remarkable  for  the  learned 
men  who  there  pursued  their  literary  toil,  among  whom 
we  may  mention  the  celebrated  annalist  Clynn.  He  was 
at  first  guardian  of  the  convent  of  Carrick-on-Suir ;  but, 
about  1338,  he  retired  to  Kilkenny,  where  he  compiled 
the  greater  part  of  his  Annals.  It  is  probable  that  he 
died  about  1350.  His  history  commences  with  the  Chris- 
tian era,  and  is  carried  down  to  the  year  1349.  At  this 
time  the  country  was  all  but  depopulated  by  a  fearful 
pestilence.  The  good  and  learned  brother  seems  to  have 
had  some  forebodings  of  his  impending  fate,  for  his  last 
written  words  run  thus  :  —  "  And,  lest  the  writing  should 
perish  with  the  writer,  and  the  work  should  fail  with  the 
workman,  I  leave  behind  me  parchment  for  continuing 
it ;  if  any  man  should  have  the  good  fortune  to  survive 
this  calamity,  or  any  one  of  the  race  of  Adam  should  es- 
cape this  pestilence,  and  live  to  continue  what  I  have 


246 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


begun."  This  abbey  was  also  one  of  the  great  literary 
schools  of  Ireland,  and  had  its  halls  of  philosophy  and 
divinity,  which  were  well  attended  for  many  years. 
In  Dublin  the  Franciscans  were  established  by  the  munif- 
icence of  their  great  patron,  Henry  III.  Ralph  le  Porter 
granted  a  site  of  land  in  that  part  of  the  city  where 
the  street  still  retains  the  name  of  the  founder  of  the 
Seraphic  order.  In  1308  John  le  Decer  proved  a  great 
benefactor  to  the  friars,  and  erected  a  very  beautiful 
chapel,  dedicated  to  the  Blessed  Virgin,  in  which  he  was 
interred. 

But  the  convent  of  Multifarnha'm  was  the  great  glory 
of  this  century.  It  was  erected  in  1236,  by  lord  Dela- 
mere ;  and  from  its  retired  situation,  and  the  powerful 
protection  of  its  noble  patrons,  escaped  many  of  the 
calamities  which  befel  other  houses  of  the  order.  The 
church  and  convent  were  built  t4  in  honor  of  God  and  St. 
Francis."  The  monastery  itself  was  of  unusual  size,  and 
had  ample  accommodation  for  a  number  of  friars.  Hence, 
in  times  of  persecution,  it  was  the  usual  refuge  of  the 
sick  and  infirm,  who  were  driven  from  their  less  favored 
homes.  The  church  was  remarkable  for  its  beauty  and 
the  richness  of  its  ornaments.  Here  were  the  tombs  of 
its  noble  founders  and  patrons,  and  the  south-eastern 
window  was  gorgeous  with  their  heraldic  devices.  The 
convent  was  situated  on  Lake  Derravaragh,  and  was 
endowed  with  many  acres  of  rich  land,  through  which 
flow  the  Inny  and  the  Gaine.  Such  a  position  afforded 
opportunity  for  mills  and  agricultural  labors,  of  which 
the  friars  were  not  slow  to  avail  themselves. 

JUven  a  list  of  the  number  of  religious  houses  founded 
at  this  period  would  occupy  more  space  than  could  fairly 
be  given  to  this  subject.  Details,  however  interesting, 
belong  rather  to  an  ecclesiastical  history.  It  will,  how- 
ever, be  necessary  to  remark,  that  in  the  reign  of  Henry 
VIII.  all  this  property,  however  vested,  and  whether  con- 
sisting of  lands,  buildings,  or  church  possessions,  was 
transferred  by  the  crown  to  the  use  of  the  Protestant 
church.  The  lands  belonging  to  the  monasteries,  or  epis- 
copal sees,  were  called  "  Herenagh  lands,"  or  "  termon 
lands,"  and  were  granted  by  the  chieftains  or  Norman 
lords  for  the  support  of  the  monks  and  clergy  belonging 


STATUTE  OF  KILKENNY. 


24T 


to  those  churches,  and  for  the  decent  maintenance  of 
the  necessary  ecclesiastical  functions.  In  some  places 
fisheries,  or  tolls,  were  granted  for  a  similar  purpose. 

The  English  settlers  in  Ireland  naturally  introduced 
English  laws  and  customs,  but  they  made  the  fatal  mis- 
take of  not  extending  their  benefits  to  the  native  Irish. 
Hence  there  were  two  different,  and,  in  some  respects, 
contradictory,  codes  enforced,  and,  necessarily,  both  con- 
fusion and  injustice  were  the  practical  result.  The  first 
Convention  in  Ireland  which  at  all  resembled  a  Parlia- 
ment, was  held  at  Kilkenny,  a.  d.  1367  ;  but  it  could  not, 
strictly  speaking,  be  called  a  Parliament,  in  the  modern 
acceptation  of  the  term.  There  is  no  list  extant  of  the 
members  who  composed  this  assembly,  but  it  is  gen- 
erally supposed  to  have  only  represented  the  English 
settlers ;  indeed,  the  enactments  of  the  statute  are  a  suf- 
ficient evidence  of  this.  The  object  of  the  statute  was 
to  check  the  gradual  amalgamation  of  the  Celts  and  Nor- 
mans, an  amalgamation  which  had  already  commenced. 

The  English  settlers  frequently  intermarried  with  the 
Irish  chieftains,  in  orderto  secure  themselves  from  attack, 
or  to  ally  themselves  to  those  who  would  then  assist 
in  defending  the  property  which  they  held  by  such  a 
precarious  tenure.  Thus  an  adoption  of  Irish  laws, 
manners,  dress,  and  customs  became  imminent ;  and  it 
appeared  not  unlikely  that  the  descendants  of  the  Norman 
nobles  would  eventually  become  masters  of  the  country, 
and  resist  the  English  government  as  strongly  and  more 
effectually  than  the  Irish  themselves  had  ever  done.  This 
became  evident  after  the  death  of  William  Burke,  who 
possessed  immense  property  in  Ulster  and  Connaught. 
He  was  killed  by  his  own  people,  and  left  one  daughter, 
who  married  Lionel,  duke  of  Clarence;  but  the  next 
male  heirs  of  the  deceased  earl  had  seized  his  extensive 
territories  in  Connaught,  and  divided  them  amongst  them- 
selves according  to  Irish  law,  because  Lionel  was  pre- 
sumably interested  in  the  enactment  of  a  statute  which 
should  protect  his  claims. 

The  statute  or  statutes  of  Kilkenny  consist  of  thirty- 
four  distinct  acts  besides  the  conclusion.  The  preamble 
states  the  reason  of  their  enactment,  and  runs  thus  : 
"Whereas  .  .  .  many  English  of  the  said  land  (Ireland), 
forsaking  the  English  language,  manners,  mode  of  living, 


248 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


laws  and  usages,  live  and  govern  themselves  according 
to  the  manners,  fashion,  and  language  of  the  Irish  ene- 
mies, and  who  have  made  divers  marriages  and  alliances 
between  themselves  and  the  Irish  enemies  aforesaid. " 

Then  follow  the  enactments.  Some  of  these  have  been 
already  briefly  enumerated.  The  object  was  simply  to 
restrain  the  English  from  any  kind  of  connection  with 
the  Irish.  The  statutes  werer  skilfully  framed,  and  only 
needed  one  thing  to  ensure  their  success  —  that  they 
should  be  efficiently  carried  out.  The  utter  impossi- 
bility of  so  doing  is  obvious  at  a  glance.  No.  2  required 
that  the  English  should  neither  intermarry  with  nor  be 
fostered  by  the  Irish.  The  result  was  frequent  applica- 
tions to  legalize  fostering,  and  eventually  the  statute 
was  entirely  disregarded.  No  3  required  the  exclusive 
use  of  the  English  language  ;  but  clearly  Norman-French 
was  thereby  intended,  for  the  statute  is  written  in  that 
language ;  and  clearly  the  language  of  a  whole  nation 
could  not  be  altered  by  a  legal  enactment.  However, 
the  statute  was  passed  at  Shrovetide,  and  the  defaulters 
were  given  a  "  respite  to  learn  English  and  provide  sad- 
dles until  the  feast  of  St.  Michael  next  ensuing. ?7 

It  is  evident  from  No.  4  that  ill-feeling  had  already 
been  created  between  the  English  born  in  Ireland  and  the 
English  born  in  England,  for  they  were  forbidden  to  call 
each  other  "  English  hobbe  "  or  V  Irish  dog."  No.  13  for- 
bids any  Irish  born  person  to  be  received  into  any  relig- 
ious house,  but  persons  of  English  descent  born  in  Ire- 
land were  not  exempted. 

The  animus  of  the  whole  statute  will  be  sufficiently 
clear  from  these  extracts.  They  failed,  because  it  was 
impossible  to  enforce  them  ;  but  the  attempt  to  do  so  led 
to  the  most  injurious  effects.  Although  this  statute  was 
frequently  abrogated  for  the  benefit  of  individuals,  and 
utterly  disregarded  by  all  who  could  possibly  escape 
its  enactments,  it  was  confirmed  by  most  of  the  numer- 
ous Parliaments  held  during  the  succeeding  century. 
These  Parliaments  were  held  in  "the  hows  called  Ghristes 
church,  scituate  in  the  highe  plase  of  the  same,  like  as 
Poules  in  London,  where  the  comen  congregations  of 
Parliamentes  and  greate  Counsailles  hathe  bene  used  to 
be  selebrated"  (Slate  Papers,  p.  Ill,  col.  ii.).  In  the 
Parliament  held  in  a.  d.  1475  enactments  were  made  that 


ECCLESIASTICAL  ARCHITECTURE. 


249 


no  knights,  citizens,  or  burgesses  should  be  returned  for 
any  place  unless  they  resided  there,  and  that  they  should 
have  a  freehold  of  forty  shillings  by  the  year.  Knights 
of  the  shire  were  paid  for  their  attendance.  There 
was  considerable  difficulty  in  making  the  enactments  of 
these  Parliaments  known  before  the  invention  of  print- 
ing :  copies  were  generally  sent  to  the  sheriffs,  who  were 
obliged  to  see  that  they  were  made  known  to  the  people. 

There  is  sufficient  evidence  to  prove  that  the  Irish 
erected  churches,  or,  as  they  are  more  generally  denom- 
inated, oratories,  of  stone,  at  a  very  early  period,  but  it 
has  not  yet  been  satisfactorily  ascertained  when  they 
began  to  build  them  on  a  larger  scale,  and  with  lime 
cement.  There  is  mention  in  the  year  1145  of  the  erec- 
tion of  an  immense  limekiln  by  Gelasius,  archbishop  of 
Armagh,  for  repairing  churches,  which  shows  that  this 
kind  of  cement  was  then  in  general  use. 

In  the  smaller  churches  of  oblong  form  without  chan- 
cels, the  roofs  were  constructed  of  stone,  and  this  con- 
tinued, with  rare  exceptions,  until  the  introduction  of 
the  pointed  or  Gothic  style.  In  the  larger  churches  the 
roofs  were  generally  of  wood.  Shrines  of  gold  and 
silver,  richly  carved,  were  placed  in  all  the  principal 
churches,  and  at  this  period  crowns  were  frequently  sus- 
pended over  the  shrines  of  saints.  It  is  probable  that 
St.  Patrick  introduced  this  custom  into  the  Irish  church, 
as  St.  Paulinus  describes  a  crown,  which  hung  over  the 
tomb  of  St.  Martin  of  Tours,  and  the  practice  is  also 
mentioned  by  Gregory  of  Tours. 

The  beautiful  and  well-known  stone-roofed  church  on 
the  Rock  of  Cashel,  called  Cormac's  chapel,  is  consid- 
ered one  of  the  most  curious  and  perfect  churches  of  the 
Norman  style  in  the  British  empire.  In  general  plan  it 
exhibits  many  points  of  resemblance  to  the  early  stone- 
roofed  churches  of  the  Irish.  Externally  the  walls  are 
ornamented  with  blank  arcades  of  semicircular  arches  ; 
internally  there  are  similar  arcades,  which  spring  from 
square  pilasters  in  the  nave.  These  pilasters  are  or- 
namented with  mouldings  characteristic  of  the  Norman 
style.  The  capitals  of  the  great  northern  doorway  give 
an  interesting  example  of  the  intersecting  semicircular 
arches  which,  by  forming  acute  arches,  were  supposed 
by  Irish  architects  to  have  suggested  the  pointed  style. 


250 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


Some  very  beautiful  cornices  are  still  in  existence 
which  evince  the  skill  of  the  Irish  artist  in  metal  work. 
Windows  of  painted  glass  were  in  use  before  1318,  for 
we  find  that  the  cathedral  church  of  Kilkenny,  erected  at 
that  date,  possessed  an  east  window  containing  the  his- 
tory of  Christ  from  His  birth  to  His  ascension,  which  was 
so  highly  esteemed  that  the  pope's  nuncio,  Rinuccini, 
who  visited  Ireland  in  1645,  offered  seven  hundred 
pounds  for  it.  His  offer,  unfortunately,  was  not  accepted, 
and  it  was  wantonly  destroyed  by  Cromwell's  soldiers. 
In  the  fifteenth  century  the  arts  of  sculpture  and  metal 
work  declined,  and  ceased  to  exhibit  any  traces  of  Celtic 
design. 

Military  Architecture.  —  The  Anglo-Normans  were 
obliged  to  erect  castles  for  defence  and  protection  of 
their  property,  as  soon  as  they  had  obtained  any  settle- 
ments in  Ireland,  but  the  Irish  nobles  appear  to  have 
anticipated  their  plan.  The  Annals  record  the  erection 
of  four  castles  in  Galway  between  a.  d.  1129  and  1134. 
Roderick  O'Conor,  the  last  native  monarch  of  Ireland, 
erected  the  castle  of  Tuam,  which  was  generally  known 
as  the  Warderford  castle,  from  its  novel  construction  and 
great  strength ;  it  was,  in  fact,  built  on  the  plan  of  the 
castles  of  the  continental  feudal  lords.  It  consisted  of 
a  strong  keep  with  an  extensive  courtyard,  surrounded 
by  outworks.  Towers  stood  at  the  angles,  and  it  was 
protected  by  a  deep  fosse,  into  which  the  waters  of  a 
neighboring  river  were  forced  to  flow. 

Domestic  architecture  probably  remained  much  the 
same  as  that  described  at  an  earlier  period.  The  castle 
was  the  home  as  well  as  the  defence  of  the  higher  classes  ; 
the  wooden  hut,  or  the  securer  lake  habitation,  was  the 
home  of  those  who  were  obliged  to  depend  on  their  own 
valor  for  protection. 

There  are,  fortunately,  several  manuscripts  extant 
from  which  correct  descriptions  of  the  dress  and  social 
customs  of  the  Irish  at  this  period  (a.d.  1309)  may  be 
obtained.  In  one  of  these  manuscripts  we  find  an  ac- 
count of  the  dress  which  a  chieftain  wore  when  going 
into  battle.  His  cassock  was  of  red  cloth,  his  tunic  was 
a  gold-bordered  garment  (the  material  is  not  mentioned) 
that  reached  from  his  neck  to  his  knees.  Over  this  he 
wore  a  parti-colored  coat  of  mail,  "  ornamented  with 


SOCIAL  CUSTOMS. 


251 


curious  devices  of  exquisite  workmanship."  His  belt 
of  war  was  saffron-colored,  and  ornamented  with  jewels. 
He  wore  a  lance  "  cased  in  a  tubic  sheath,"  a  dagger 
fixed  in  his  belt,  a  polished  spherical  helmet,  a  sharp- 
pointed  sword,  a  dart  in  his  right  hand,  and  a  spear  in 
his  left. 

The  Irish  did  not  use  mail  armor  before  the  twelfth 
century,  and  probably  adopted  it  gradually  from  having 
seen  its  efficacy  in  their  conflicts  with  the  Danes.  The 
chronic  state  of  war  in  which  the  nation  was  kept  from 
the  time  of  the  Danish  invasion  was  a  serious  and  effec- 
tual hindrance  to  social  advancement.  It  would  appear 
that  wood  tablets  were  used  by  schoolmasters  for  record- 
ing their  lessons,  and  that  the  Irish  character  was  used 
even  when  Latin  was  the  medium  of  communication  or 
the  subject  of  study.  A  curious  specimen  of  these  tab- 
lets is  preserved  in  the  Royal  Irish  Academy.  The  cover 
and  leaves  are  pine  wood,  coated  to  within  a  quarter  of 
an  inch  of  the  edge  with  wax.  The  writing  is  referred 
by  competent  caligraphers  to  the  fourteenth  century, 
though  it  is  admitted  that  such  tablets  were  in  use  at  a 
much  earlier  period. 

The  Danes,  as  we  have  already  observed,  were  the 
founders  of  the  Irish  maritime  towns  and  of  Irish  export 
trade.  Frequent  mention  is  made  in  the  Sagas  of  their 
trading  voyages.  Before  the  Anglo-Norman  invasion 
of  Ireland  a  slave  trade  was  carried  on  between  that 
country  and  England.  William  of  Malmesbury,  in  his 
Life  of  Wulstan,  bishop  of  Worcester,  who  died  a.  d.1095, 
informs  us  that  Bristol  was  the  great  mart  for  this  infa- 
mous traffic.  It  was  discontinued  for  a  time,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  energetic  exertions  of  the  holy  bishop. 
The  Irish  bartered  their  cattle  for  English  slaves,  whom 
they  employed  in  tending  their  herds.  The  value  of  each 
is  expressed  in  the  "  Doomsday  Book,"  where  we  find 
that  the  toll  of  the  market  at  Lewes  in  Suffolk  was  four- 
pence  for  a  slave  —  not  a  serf,  adscriptus  glebce,  but  an 
unconditional  bondsman  —  and  one  penny  for  a  cow. 
The  Irish  clergy  at  the  synod  of  Armagh,  a.  d.  1172, 
declared  that  the  English  invasion  was  a  judgment  on 
their  nation  for  this  slave  trade,  which  they  were  com- 
manded to  discontinue.  They  were  also  required  to 
release  all  the  English  boys  whom  they  had  purchased. 


252 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


The  principal  home  manufacture  at  the  time  of  the 
Norman  invasion  was  cloth  made  of  black  wool,  which 
did  not  require  to  be  dyed,  and  parti-colored  cloth  used 
for  trimmings.  Javelins,  lances,  and  battle-axes  were 
also  manufactured  from  iron.  The  Danes  or  Ostmen  of 
Wexford  imported  wine  and  corn  from  Brittany,  as  num- 
bers of  these  merchants  fled  from  Dublin  at  the  period 
of  the  English  invasion.  Henry  II.  peopled  it  as  far  as 
possible  with  traders  from  Bristol,  to  whom  he  granted 
a  charter,  and  special  privileges.  They  had  considera- 
ble shipping  at  an  early  period,  and  we  find  in  Rymer's 
Foedera  that  in  1242  Henry  III.  ordered  the  mayor  and 
burgesses  of  Dublin  to  assist  him  with  transport  vessels 
for  his  war  with  France. 

In  1272  there  was  a  considerable  trade  done  in  cloth, 
which  was  exported  to  England.  Indeed,  this  cloth  was 
famous  on  the  continent  at  an  earlier  period,  for  it  is 
mentioned  in  the  Dita  Mundi  of  Bonifagio's  "Uberti," 
as  used  in  Italy  about  a.  d.  1364.  In  1300  a  considera- 
ble trade  was  carried  on  in  hogs,  but  whether  living  or 
dead  the  barbarous  Latin  in  which  they  are  described  as 
baconebus  makes  it  impossible  to  determine. 

There  are  many  notices  of  Irish  chiefs  being  employed 
in  the  French  wars  by  the  kings  of  England.  In  1353 
Edward  III.  passed  the  celebrated  ordinance  known  as 
the  staple.  The  staple  goods  were  wools,  wool-fells, 
hides,  and  lead,  and  the  staples  were  certain  towns  in 
England,  and  Dublin,  Waterford,  Cork,  and  Drogheda 
in  Ireland.  The  exportation  of  staple  goods  was  pro- 
hibited under  penalty  of  death,  but  the  Irish  were  allowed 
to  take  their  staple  goods  for  sale  to  any  staple  town  in 
England. 

The  Normans,  who  were  notoriously  luxurious  livers, 
no  doubt  introduced  many  requirements  of  gastronomy 
into  Ireland.  The  use  of  cranes'  flesh  was  learnt  from 
them,  and  herons,  peacocks,  swans,  and  wild  geese  were 
also  brought  to  table,  and  dressed  in  a  way  that  was  then 
considered  the  acme  of  cookery. 


FIFTH  PERIOD 

IRELAND  UNDER  THE  TUDORS  AND  STUARTS. 
FROM  A.D.  1513  TO  A.D.  1800. 


PRINCIPAL  EVENTS. 

FAILURE  OF  THE  ATTEMPT  TO  INTRODUCE  THE  REFORMATION 
INTO  IRELAND  —  THE  REIGN  OF  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  —  RINUC- 
CINI  IS  SENT  BY  THE  POPE  TO  EFFECT  A  UNION  BETWEEN 
THE  IRISH  PRINCES  —  HE  FALLS  TO  ACCOMPLISH  THIS,  AND 
RETURNS  TO  ITALY  —  CROMWELL'S  CAMPAIGN  IN  IRELAND  — 
BATTLE  OF  THE  BOYNE  —  INSURRECTION  OF  1798  —  THE  ACT 
OF  UNION  BETWEEN  GREAT  BRITAIN  AND  IRELAND  PASSED 
A.  D.  1800. 

) 


(253) 


LUTHER  AND  THE  REFORMATION. 


255 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

A.D.  1513  TO  A.D.  1561. 

FAILURE  OF  THE  ATTEMPT   TO  INTRODUCE  THE 
REFORMATION  INTO  IRELAND. 

Contemporary  Events  :—  Charles  V.  obtains  the  Spanish  Crown- 
Landing  of  Cortez  in  Mexico— Luther  Excommunicated  by  the 
Pope— Circumnavigation  of  the  Globe  by  Magellan— Capture  of 
Rhodes  by  the  Turks— Francis  I.  taken  Prisoner  at  Pavia— He  signs 
a  Treaty  with  the  Emperor  Charles  V.— Vienna  besieged  by  the 
Turks— Henry  VIII.  proclaimed  Head  of  the  Protestant  Church  in 
England— The  Council  of  Trent  assembled— Death  of  Henry  VIII. 
of  England  and  Francis  I.  of  France— Abdication  of  Charles  V. 

The  so-called  Reformation  was,  unquestionably,  the 
great  event  of  the  sixteenth  century.  It  could  not  be 
otherwise,  since  the  effects  produced  by  it  were  of  such 
momentous  importance.  We  are  not  at  present  con- 
cerned with  the  history  of  this  rebellion  against  the  au- 
thority of  the  church  in  foreign  countries,  but  it  is  quite 
impossible  to  understand  Irish  history  of  this  period  with- 
out some  explanation  of  the  rise  and  origin  of  the  schism. 
That  it  had  its  beginning  in  Germany,  and  that  its  imme- 
diate author  was  an  apostate  monk  named  Martin  Lu- 
ther, is  generally  known,  though  his  miserable  career  of 
impiety  has  been,  as  far  as  possible,  ignored  even  by  those 
who  boast  most  loudly  of  his  success. 

Personal  pique,  and  jealousy  of  the  privileges  granted 
to  another  order  were  clearly  tne  first  motives  by  which 
Luther  was  actuated.  The  love  of  celebrity  and  a  desire 
for  fame,  with  probably  a  strong  natural  inclination  to 
self-will  and  the  gratification  of  animal  passions,  were 
the  second  and  most  powerful  motives.  With  such  a 
character,  opposition  only  fed  the  flame  of  discontent. 
Even  if  individual  members  of  the  church  had  needed 
reform,  revolt  against  the  church  could  never  effect  any 
good  end, —  as  well  might  you  smite  the  father  for  the 
sins  of  the  child.    But  though  Luther  boasted  loudly 


256 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


of  his  desire  to  reform  both  the  manners  and  doctrines 
of  Catholics,  he  certainly  made  no  attempt  to  reform  his 
own,  and  even  his  best  defenders  were  obliged  to  admit 
with  pain  and  shame  that  he  lived  a  dissolute  life,  and 
that  he  could,  and  did  on  many  occasions,  scoff'  at  all 
religion.  He  himself  has  left  it  on  record,  that  he  disbe- 
lieved and  despised  some  portions  of  Scripture  which 
were  admitted  even  by  Protestants  to  have  been  inspired 
by  God. 

The  new  religion,  if  religion  it  could  be  called,  soon 
came  to  the  knowledge  of  the  English  king,  and  it  came 
just  at  the  moment  when  there  was  the  greatest  tempta- 
tion to  adopt  it.  No  unprejudiced  person,  no  person 
of  ordinary  historical  information  can  deny  that  Henry 
VIII.  was  only  too  glad  to  avail  himself  of  the  schism,  in 
order  to  obtain  an  excuse  for  gratifying  his  sinful  incli- 
nations. Until  he  wished  to  be  free  to  repudiate  his 
wives  as  often  as  he  pleased,  he  prided  himself  on  being 
called  11  Defender  of  the  Faith;  "  when  he  found  that 
he  could  not  live  as  he  pleased  without  censure  from  the 
church,  his  ardor  soon  cooled,  and  he  determined  to  take 
the  law  into  his  own  hands.  Unfortunately,  as  he  was 
a  king,  it  was  necessary  for  him  to  compel  or  induce  his 
subjects  to  follow  him.  In  England  the  matter  was  easy ; 
we  are  about  to  record  how  difficult  it  was  in  Ireland, — 
how,  in  fact,  his  attempts  failed  there  entirely. 

Henry  VIII.  succeeded  his  father  in  the  year  1509. 
He  was  the  second  son  of  Henry  VII.  who  had  married 
Elizabeth  of  York.  Henry  VIII.  had  an  elder  brother, 
Arthur,  who  died  in  1502.  Arthur  had  married  a  Span- 
ish princess,  Catherine  of  Arragon,  in  November,  1501. 
The  young  prince  died  in  April,  1502, — thus  his  union 
with  the  young  Spanish  princess  had  only  lasted  six 
f  months.  Catherine  had  brought  an  immense  fortune  to 
England,  and  Henry  VII.  was  very  unwilling  to  allow  it 
to  leave  the  country ;  but  it  was  necessary,  in  order  to 
obtain  his  end,  that  Catherine  should  remain  in  England, 
and  the  only  possible  method  of  securing  her  person,  was 
to  arrange  a  marriage  between  her  and  the  heir  to  the 
English  throne.  Henry  was  only  fourteen  when  this 
contract  was  made,  June,  1502,  exactly  three  months 
after  the  death  of  prince  Arthur. 

Henry  VII.,  with  consummate  craft,  advised  his  son 
to  make  a  secret  protest  against  the  marriage,  so  that 


HENRY  VIII. 


251 


he  might  refuse  to  carry  it  out  when  he  came  of  age. 
But  Henry  of  his  own  free  will  did  marry  Catherine  in  the 
most  solemn  and  public  manner,  seven  years  after,  June 
24,  1509;  and  he  lived  to  all  appearance  very  happily 
with  his  queen  for  seventeen  years  after.  The  appear- 
ance of  Anne  Boleyn  at  court  was  the  immediate  cause 
of  Henry's  apostasy.  The  rare  beauty  of  the  lady  at- 
tracted his  attention,  and  he  determined  to  make  her 
his  queen.  While  Catherine  lived,  the  attainment  of  his 
vile  object  seemed  impossible.  But  as  he  allowed  him- 
self freely  to  give  way  to  evil  desires,  the  next  down- 
ward step  was  easily  taken.  His  object  now  was  to  get 
rid  of  his  wife  and  to  marry  Anne  Boleyn.  He  could 
not  use  violence  against  Catherine  of  Arragon  as  he  did 
against  his  future  queens,  as  her  family  were  so  powerful, 
therefore  the  only  way  in  which  he  could  accomplish  his 
purpose  was  by  obtaining  a  dispensation  from  the  Holy 
See. 

Henry  was  at  this  time  a  Catholic,  at  least,  in  name ; 
but  it  should  be  remembered,  and  remembered  carefully, 
that  when  a  man  sets  the  commands  of  God  and  the 
church  at  defiance  by  living  in  constant  sin,  and  absent- 
ing himself  from  the  sacraments,  he  becomes  in  great 
danger  of  losing  his  faith.  God  may  withdraw  that 
great  grace  from  him  if  he  proves  himself  unworthy  of 
it.  Henry  probably  knew  this  very  well:  he  was  clever, 
and,  it  would  appear,  highly  educated.  He  had  even  de- 
fended the  Holy  See  against  the  attacks  of  Martin  Luther, 
and  wrote  a  work  on  the  Seven  Sacraments,  which  he 
published  in  1521,  and  for  which  he  obtained  the  title  of 
"  Defender  of  the  Faith.' J  But  while  he  was  himself  despis- 
ing and  contemning  the  sacraments,  it  was  little  use  for 
him  to  write  in  their  defence.  How  little  he  really  cared 
for  the  sacraments  is  shown  by  the  way  in  which  he  vio- 
lated the  solemn  engagements  of  the  sacrament  of  matri- 
mony. 

He  had  already  obtained  a  dispensation  to  marry  Cath- 
erine. Although  it  was  believed  that  her  marriage  with 
his  brother  Arthur  had  never  been  consummated,  yet  this 
dispensation  was  necessary,  as  she  was  legally  his  sister- 
in-law.  Now,  however,  he  pretended  that  his  conscience 
would  not  allow  him  to  live  with  her  any  longer ;  and 
this  was  the  excuse  he  made  to  the  Pope  for  wanting  the 


258 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


dispensation.  His  conscience,  however,  did  not  prevent 
him  from  living  with  Anne  Boleyn  for  three  years  before 
he  married  her,  and  her  child,  afterwards  Queen  Eliza- 
beth, was,  in  consequence,  illegitimate. 

It  is  probable  the  Pope  was  very  well  aware  of  the 
whole  state  of  affairs.  Henry  knew  that  he  was  a  very 
powerful  monarch,  and  he  hoped  to  terrify  the  Pope 
into  complying  with  his  desires.  He  had  yet  to  learn 
that  Popes  can  neither  be  frightened  nor  cajoled,  and 
that  they  would  give  up  their  lives  and  their  liberties, 
were  it  possible,  fifty  times  over,  rather  than  yield  to 
the  wicked  will  of  any  king  or  prince. 

The  Pope,  however,  very  wisely  sent  a  legate  to  Eng- 
land to  inquire  into  the  matter,  as  this  mark  of  respect 
was  due  to  Henry.  But  the  Pope's  advisers  saw  plainly 
the  great  injustice  of  the  whole  proceedings,  and  that 
Henry  only  wished  to  gratify  his  passions.  Cardinal 
Wolsey  died  soon  after,  and  the  Pope's  legate  found  that 
he  had  only  been  summoned  to  England  to  give  judgment 
in  the  king's  favor,  and  that  if  he  refused  to  do  it,  the 
king  was  determined  to  take  his  own  course. 

Already  many  German  princes  had  become  Protestants 
and  followed  Martin  Luther's  example  of  profligacy  ;  not 
even  to  save  the  whole  kingdom  of  England  from  becom- 
ing Protestants,  would  the  Pope  sanction  crime. 

After  Wolsey's  death,  Henry  got  a  new  adviser,  Crom- 
well. This  Cromwell  was  a  follower  of  Anne  Boleyn's 
family,  and  naturally  anxious  that  she  should  become 
queen.  He  had  spent  many  years  on  the  continent, 
where  he  had  served  as  a  common  soldier ;  and  he  had 
learned  the  new  doctrines  taught  by  Martin  Luther 
and  his  followers.  He  now  came  to  the  assistance  of 
Henry,  and  suggested  that  he  should  set  the  Pope  at 
defiance  ;  that  he  should  declare  himself  head  of  the 
Church ;  and  then  as  head  of  the  Church  he  could  legal- 
ize the  sin  which  the  Pope's  authority  would  not  allow. 
Henry  at  once  acted  on  the  advice,  as  he  was  very 
anxious  to  get  rid  of  his  wife. 

Cromwell  was  ordered  to  make  the  necessary  arrange- 
ments, which  may  be  simply  explained  thus  :  —  The  Eng- 
lish kings,  though  some  of  them  had  been  really  good 
Catholics,  were  always  desirous  of  obtaining  an  increase 
of  power,  and  particularly  wished  to  get  some  kind  of 


CRAFTINESS  OF  HENRY  VIII. 


259 


control  over  the  bishops  and  clergy.  They  made  laws 
at  different  times  to  try  and  effect  this  object.  One  of 
these  laws  was  called  the  statute  of  praemunire.  This 
statute  made  it  necessary,  under  certain  circumstances, 
for  ecclesiastics  to  obtain  a  patent  from  the  crown  before 
exercising  the  office  of  papal  legate. 

When  Cardinal  Wolsey  was  appointed  papal  legate  he 
was  granted  this  patent  to  enable  him  to  exercise  his  of- 
fice ;  but  when  Henry  turned  against  him,  he  had  him 
accused  of  having  accepted  the  office  without  obtaining 
the  necessary  permission.  Of  course,  this  permission 
had  nothing  whatever  to  do' with  the  spiritual  power  of 
ecclesiastics ;  for  no  English  king,  however  wicked, 
thought  of  assuming  to  himself  any  spiritual  power  until 
Henry  VIII.  made  himself  head  of  the  Church.  Wol- 
sey pleaded  guilty  of  the  crime  against  the  State,  al- 
though he  knew  very  well  that  he  was  not  guilty  ;  but 
he  thought  that  by  pleading  guilty  the  king  would  have 
mercy  on  him.  Henry,  however,  was  too  cruel  and  too 
selfish  to  show  him  any  consideration.  The  Cardinal 
was  now  dead,  and  Henry,  or  his  minister,  Cromwell, 
thought  of  this  very  able  device  to  attain  his  evil  ends. 
He  now  proceeded  to  charge  the  clergy  with  having  rec- 
ognized Wolsey's  authority  and  thus  infringed  the  stat- 
ute. Wolsey  had  not  been  guilty  of  this  offence  against 
the  law  of  the  land,  therefore  they  were  not  guilty. 
This,  however,  was  nothing  to  the  king,  and  the  unfor- 
tunate clergy  knew  only  too  well  with  whom  they  had 
to  deal. 

The  clergy  at  once  consulted  together,  and  offered  the 
king  the  enormous  sum  of  one  hundred  thousand  pounds 
if  he  would  forgive  their  pretended  offence.  It  would 
have  been  far  better  had  they  resisted  the  king ;  and  had 
they  united  in  so  doing,  they  would  probably  have  car- 
ried the  day. 

Henry  graciously  accepted  the  money,  but  refused  to 
forgive  the  clergy  unless  they  introduced  a  clause  into 
the  preamble  of  their  grant  acknowledging  him  as  "  Pro- 
tector and  only  Supreme  Head  of  the  Church  and  Clergy 
of  England."  The  clergy  were  not  a  little  astonished 
at  this  demand  ;  they  did  not  know,  then,  what  was  the 
real  object  which  Henry  had  in  prosecuting  them  ;  and 
they  probably  never  foresaw,  or  even  suspected,  the  fear- 


260 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


ful  consequences  which  the  admission  of  his  claim  would 
involve.  The  clergy  debated  the  matter  for  three  days 
in  convocation,  and  at  last  agreed  to  do  what  the  king 
wished,  provided  he  would  allow  them  to  insert  the  clause 
"in  so  far  as  the  law  of  Christ  will  allow."  This,  of 
course,  quite  did  away  with  the  meaning  intended  by 
the  king  in  his  clause ;  for  both  the  clergy  and  the  king 
knew  very  well  that  Christ's  laws  had  made  St.  Peter 
and  the  popes,  his  successors,  the  heads  of  His  Church, 
and  that  the  place  and  authority  could  never  be  given  to 
any  king,  or  prince,  or  layman. 

The  king,  however,  accepted  the  money  and  the  clause. 
He  feared  to  press  the  clergy  too  far,  and  hoped  that  the 
clause,  even  as  it  stood,  would  become  generally  known 
amongst  the  people  of  England,  and  that  they  would 
get  used  to  the  idea  of  his  being  called  the  head  of  the 
Church.  This,  then,  was  the  commencement  of  what  has 
been  so  foolishly  called  the  "  Glorious  Reformation. " 

We  must,  however,  return  once  more  to  secular  his- 
tory before  relating  the  manner  in  which  unsuccessful 
attempts  were  made  to  Protestantize  Ireland. 

Henry  VIII.  succeeded  his  father  in  the  year  1509. 
The  earl  of  Kildare  was  continued  in  his  office  as  deputy  ; 
but  the  king's  minister,  Wolsey,  virtually  ruled  the 
nation,  until  the  youthful  monarch  had  attained  his  ma- 
jority ;  and  he  appears  to  have  devoted  himself  with  con- 
siderable zeal  to  Irish  affairs.  He  attempted  to  attach 
some  of  the  Irish  chieftains  to  the  English  interest,  and 
seems  in  some  degree  to  have  succeeded.  Hugh  O'Don- 
nell,  lord  of  Tir-Connell,  was  hospitably  entertained  at 
Windsor,  as  he  passed  through  England  on  his  pilgrim- 
age to  Rome.  It  is  said  that  O'Donnell  subsequently 
prevented  James  IV.  of  Scotland  from  undertaking  his 
intended  expedition  to  Ireland  ;  and  in  1521  we  find  him 
described  by  the  then  lord  deputy  as  the  best  disposed 
of  all  the  Irish  chieftains  "  to  fall  into  English  order." 

Gerald,  the  ninth  and  last  Catholic  earl  of  Kildare,  suc- 
ceeded his  father  as  lord  deputy  in  1513.  But  the  heredi- 
tary foes  of  his  family  were  soon  actively  employed  in 
working  his  ruin ;  and  even  his  sister,  who  had  married 
into  that  family,  proved  not  the  least  formidable  of  his 
enemies.  He  was  summoned  to  London  ;  but  either  the 
charges  against  him  could  not  be  proved,  or  it  was 


REPORT  ON  THE  STATE  OF  IRELAND. 


261 


deemed  expedient  to  defer  them,  for  we  find  him  attend- 
ing Henry  for  four  years,  and  forming  one  of  his  retinue 
at  the  Field  of  the  Cloth  of  Gold.  Kildare  was  permitted 
to  return  to  Dublin  again  in  1523  ;  but  he  was  tracked 
by  Wolsey's  implacable  hatred  to  his  doom.  In  1533  he 
was  confined  in  the  Tower  for  the  third  time.  The 
charges  against  him  were  warmly  urged  by  his  enemies. 
Two  of  his  sisters  were  married  to  native  chieftains; 
and  he  was  accused  with  playing  fast  and  loose  with  the 
English  as  a  baron  of  the  Pale  —  with  the  Irish  as  a  warm 
ally.  Two  English  nobles  had  been  appointed  to  assist 
him,  or,  rather,  to  act  the  spy  upon  his  movements,  at 
different  times.  One  of  these,  Sir  Thomas  Skeffington, 
became  his  most  dangerous  enemy. 

In  1515  an  elaborate  report  on  the  state  of  Ireland  was 
prepared  by  the  royal  command.  It  gives  a  tolerably 
clear  idea  of  the  military  and  political  condition  of  the 
country.  According  to  this  account,  the  only  counties 
really  subject  to  English  rule,  were  Louth,  Meath,  Dub- 
lin, Kildare,  and  Wexford.  Even  the  residents  near  the 
boundaries  of  these  districts  were  obliged  to  pay  "  black 
mail  "  to  the  neighboring  Irish  chieftains.  The  king's 
writs  were  not  executed  beyond  the  bounds  described ; 
and  within  thirty  miles  of  Dublin  the  Brehon  Law  was 
in  full  force.  This  document,  which  is  printed  in  the 
first  volume  of  the  u  State  Papers  "  relating  to  Ireland, 
contains  a  list  of  the  petty  rulers  of  sixty  different  states 
or  "  regions/'  some  of  which  ''areas  big  as  a  shire; 
some  more,  some  less."  The  writer  then  gives  various 
opinions  as  to  the  plans  which  might  be  adopted  for  im- 
proving the  state  of  Ireland,  which  he  appears  to  have 
taken  principally  from  a  curious  old  book,  called  "  Salus 
Popidi."  Both  writers  were  of  opinion  that  war  to  the 
knife  was  the  only  remedy  for  Ireland's  grievances.  It 
was  at  least  clear  that  if  dead  men  could  tell  no  tales, 
neither  could  dead  men  rebel  against  oppression  ;  and  the 
writer  of  the  report  concludes,  "  that  if  the  king  were 
as  wise  as  Solomon  the  Sage,  he  shall  never  subdue  the 
wild  Irish  to  his  obedience  without  dread  of  the  sword." 
Even  this  he  admits  may  fail :  for  he  adds,  "  so  long  as 
they  may  resist  and  save  their  lives,  they  will  never  obey 
the  king."  He  then  quotes  the  11  Salus  Populi,"  to  show 
the  advantages  which  England  might  derive  if  the  Irish 


262 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


united  with  her  in  her  wars  on  foreign  countries,  and 
observes,  "that  if  this  land  were  put  once  in  order  as 
aforesaid,  it  would  be  none  other  but  a  very  paradise, 
delicious  of  all  pleasaunce,  in  respect  and  regard  of  any 
other  land  in  this  world ;  inasmuch  as  there  never  was 
stranger  nor  alien  person,  great  or  small,  that  would 
leave  it  willingly,  notwithstanding  the  said  misorder,  if 
he  had  the  means  to  dwell  therein  honestly." 

It  cannot  now  be  ascertained  whether  Kildare  had  in- 
cited the  Irish  chieftains  to  rebellion  or  not.  In  1520, 
during  one  of  his  periods  of  detention  in  London,  the 
earl  of  Surrey  was  sent  over  as  deputy  with  a  large  force. 
It  would  appear  as  if  a  general  rising  were  contemplated 
at  that  time,  and  it  was  then  the  earl  wrote  the  letter1 
already  mentioned  to  0' Carroll.  The  new  viceroy  was 
entirely  ignorant  of  the  state  of  Ireland,  and  imagined 
he  had  nothing  to  do  but  conquer.  Several  successful 
engagements  confirmed  him  in  this  pleasing  delusion  ; 
but  he  soon  discovered  his  mistake,  and  assured  the  king 
that  it  was  hopeless  to  contend  with  an  enemy  who  were 
defeated  one  day  and  rose  up  with  renewed  energy  the 
next.  Asa  last  resource  he  suggested  the  policy  of 
conciliation,  which  Henry  appears  to  have  adopted,  as 
he  empowered  him  to  confer  the  honor  of  knighthood  on 
any  of  the  Irish  chieftains  to  whom  he  considered  it  de- 
sirable to  offer  the  compliment,  and  he  sent  a  collar  of 
gold  to  O'Neill.  About  the  same  time  Surrey  wrote  to 
inform  Wolsey  that  Cormac  Oge  MacCarthy  and  Mac- 
Carthy  Reagh  were  "  two  wise  men,  and  more  conform- 
able to  order  than  some  English  were  ; 99  but  he  was  still 
careful  to  keep  up  the  old  policy  of  fomenting  discord 
among  the  native  princes,  for  he  wrote  to  the  king  that 
"it  would  be  dangerful  to  have  them  both  agreed  and 
joined  together,  as  the  longer  they  continue  in  war,  the 
better  it  should  be  for  your  grace's  poor  subjects  here." 

Surrey  became  weary  at  last  of  the  hopeless  conflict, 
and  at  his  own  request  he  was  permitted  to  return  to 
England  and  resign  his  office,  which  was  conferred  upon 

1  The  deposition  accusing  Kildare  is  printed  in  the  State  Papers, 
part  iii.  p.  45.  The  following  is  an  extract  from  the  translation  which 
it  gives  of  his  letter  to  O'Carroll.  The  original  was  written  in.  Irish : 
"  Desiring  you  to  kepe  good  peas  to  English  men  tyll  an  English  Dep- 
utie  come  there;  and  when  any  English  Deputie  shall  come  thydder, 
dooyour  beste  to  make  warre  upon  English  men  there,  except  suche 
as  bee  towardes  mec,  whom  you  know  well  your  silt'." 


MURDER  OF  ARCHBISHOP  ALLEN. 


263 


his  friend,  Pierse  Butler,  of  Carrick,  subsequently  earl 
of  Ormonde.  The  Scotch  had  begun  to  immigrate  to 
Ulster  in  considerable  numbers,  and  acquired  large  ter- 
ritories there  ;  the  Pale  was  almost  unprotected ;  and 
the  Irish  Privy  Council  applied  to  Wolsey  for  six  ships- 
of-war,  to  defend  the  northern  coasts,  a.  d.  1522.  The 
dissensions  between  the  O'Neills  and  O'Donnells  had 
broken  out  into  sanguinary  warfare. 

The  earl  of  Kildare  left  Ireland,  for  the  third  and  last 
time,  in  February,  1534,  Before  his  departure  he  sum- 
moned a  council  at  Drogheda,  and  appointed  his  son 
Thomas  to  act  as  deputy  in  his  absence.  On  the  earl's 
arrival  in  London  he  was  at  once  seized  and  imprisoned 
in  the  Tower.  A  false  report  was  carefully  circulated 
in  Ireland  that  he  had  been  beheaded,  and  that  the  de- 
struction of  the  whole  family  was  even  then  impending. 

The  unfortunate  earl  had  advised  his  son  to  pursue  a 
cautious  and  gentle  policy ;  but  lord  Thomas'  fiery  tem- 
per could  ill  brook  such  precaution,  and  he  was  but  too 
easily  roused  by  the  artful  enemies  who  incited  him  to 
rebellion.  The  reports  of'  his  father's  execution  were 
confirmed.  His  proud  blood  was  up,  and  he  rushed 
madly  on  the  career  of  self-destruction.  On  the  11th  of 
June,  1534,  he  flung  down  the  sword  of  state  on  the  table 
of  the  council-hall  at  St.  Mary's  Abbey,  and  openly  re- 
nounced his  allegiance  to  the  English  monarch.  Arch- 
bishop Cromer  implored  him  with  tears  to  reconsider  his 
purpose,  but  all  entreaties  were  vain.  Even  had  he  been 
touched  by  this  disinterested  counsel,  it  would  probably 
have  failed  of  its  effect ;  for  an  Irish  bard  commenced 
chanting  his  praises  and  his  father's  wrongs,  and  thus 
his  doom  was  sealed.  An  attempt  was  made  to  arrest 
him,  but  it  failed.  Archbishop  Allen,  his  father's  bitter- 
est enemy,  fled  to  the  Castle,  with  several  other  nobles, 
and  here  they  were  besieged  by  FitzGerald  and  his  fol- 
lowers. The  archbishop  soon  contrived  to  effect  his 
escape.  He  embarked  at  night  in  a  vessel  which  was 
then  lying  at  Dame's  Gate  ;  but  the  ship  was  stranded 
near  Clontarf,  either  through  accident  or  design,  and  the 
unfortunate  prelate  was  seized  by  lord  Thomas'  people, 
who  instantly  put  him  to  death.  The  young  nobleman 
is  said  by  some  authorities  to  have  been  present  at  the 
murder,  as  well  as  his  two  uncles  :  there  is  at  least  no 


264 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


doubt  of  his  complicity  in  the  crime.  The  sentence  of 
excommunication  was  pronounced  against  him  and  those 
who  assisted  him,  in  its  most  terrible  form. 

Ecclesiastical  intervention  was  not  necessary  to  com- 
plete his  ruin.  He  had  commenced  his  wild  career  of 
lawless  violence  with  but  few  followers,  and  without  any 
influential  companions.  The  castle  of  Maynooth,  the 
great  stronghold  of  the  Geraldines,  was  besieged  and 
captured  by  his  father's  old  enemy,  Sir  William  Skeffing- 
ton.  In  the  meanwhile  the  intelligence  of  his  son's 
insurrection  had  been  communicated  to  the  earl,  and  the 
news  of  his  excommunication  followed  quickly.  The 
unfortunate  nobleman  succumbed  beneath  the  twofold 
blow,  and  died  in  a  few  weeks.  Lord  Thomas  surren- 
dered himself  in  August,  1535,  on  the  guarantee  of  lord 
Leonard  and  lord  Butler,  under  a  solemn  promise  that 
his  life  should  be  spared.1  But  his  fate  was  in  the  hands 
of  one  who  had  no  pity,  even  where  the  tenderest  ties 
were  concerned.  Soon  after  the  surrender  of  "  Silken 
Thomas/'  his  five  uncles  were  seized  treacherously  at  a 
banquet ;  and,  although  three  of  them  had  no  part  in  the 
rebellion,  the  nephew  and  the  uncles  were  all  executed 
together  at  Tyburn,  on  the  3rd  of  February,  1537.  If  the 
king  had  hoped  by  this  cruel  injustice  to  rid  himself  of 
the  powerful  family,  he  was  mistaken.  Two  children 
of  the  late  earl  still  existed.  They  were  sons  by  his 
second  wife,  lady  Elizabeth  Grey.  The  younger,  still 
an  infant,  was  conveyed  to  his  mother  in  England.  The 
elder,  a  youth  of  twelve  years  of  age,  was  concealed  by 
his  aunts,  who  were  married  to  the  chieftains  of  Olfaly 
and  Donegal,  and  was  soon  conveyed  to  France,  out  of 
the  reach  of  the  enemies  who  eagerly  sought  his  destruc 
tion. 

The  first  attempt  made  by  Henry  VIII.  to  introduce 
the  Reformation  was  the  appointment  of  Dr.  Browne  to 
the  see  of  Dublin.  He  was  an  Augustinian  friar,  and 
had  joined  the  reforming  party  in  England.  He  was  a 
man  of  considerable  energy  and  determination,  and  the 

1  It  is  quite  evident  from  the  letter  of  the  Council  to  Henry  VIII. 
{State  Papers,  ciii.),  that  a  promise  was  made.  Henry  admits  it,  and 
regrets  it  in  his  letter  to  Skeffington  (S.  P.  cvi.) :  "  The  doyng  where- 
of (FitzGerald's  capture),  albeit  we  accept  it  thankfully,  yet  if  he  bad 
been  apprehended  after  such  sorte  at  was  convenable  to  his  deserv- 
ynges,  the  same  had  been  nioch  more  thankfull  and  better  to  our 
contentacion." 


OPPOSITION  TO  THE  REFORMATION.  265 

king  naturally  supposed  that  he  would  easily  accomplish 
his  wishes.  Soon  after  his  arrival  in  Ireland  he  received 
an  official  letter  from  Cromwell,  containing  directions  for 
his  conduct  there.  He  is  informed  it  is  "  the  royal  will 
and  pleasure  of  his  majesty,  that  his  subjects  in  Ireland, 
even  as  those  in  England,  should  obey  his  commands  in 
spiritual  matters  as  in  temporal,  and  renounce  their  alle- 
giance to  the  see  of  Rome."  But  Dr.  Browne  soon  found 
that  it  was  incomparably  easier  for  Henry  to  issue  com- 
mands in  England  than  for  him  to  enforce  them  in  Ire- 
land. He  therefore  wrote  to  Cromwell,  from  Dublin,  on 
"the  4th  of  the  Kal.  of  December,  1535, "  and  informed 
him  that  he  "had  endeavored,  almost  to  the  danger  and 
hazard  of  my  temporal  life,  to  procure  the  nobility  and 
gentry  of  this  nation  to  due  obedience  in  owning  of  his 
highness  their  supreme  head,  as  well  spiritual  as  tempo- 
ral ;  and  do  find  much  oppugning  therein,  especially  by 
my  brother  Armagh,  who  hath  been  the  main  oppugner, 
and  so  hath  withdrawn  most  of  his  suffragans  and  clergy 
within  his  see  and  diocese.  He  made  a  speech  to  them, 
laying  a  curse  on  the  people  whosoever  should  own  his 
highness'  supremacy,  saying,  that  isle —  as  it  is  in  their 
Irish  chronicles,  insula  sacra  —  belongs  to  none  but  the 
bishop  of  Rome,  and  that  it  was  the  bishop  of  Rome  that 
gave  it  to  the  king's  ancestors."  Dr.  Browne  then  pro- 
ceeds to  inform  his  correspondent  that  the  Irish  clergy 
had  sent  two  messengers  to  Rome.  He  states  "  that  the 
common  people  of  this  isle  are  more  zealous  in  their 
blindness  than  the  saints  and  martyrs  were  in  truth  ;  " 
and  he  advises  that  a  Parliament  should  at  once  be  sum« 
moned,  "  to  pass  the  supremacy  by  act ;  for  they  do  not 
much  matter  his  highness'  commission,  which  your  lord- 
ship sent  us  over." 

The  Parliament  was  summoned  in  1536  ;  but,  as  a  re- 
mote preparation,  the  lord  deputy  made  a  "  martial  cir- 
cuit "  of  Ireland,  hoping  thereby  to  overawe  the  native 
septs,  and  compel  their  submission  to  the  royal  will  and 
pleasure.  "  This  preparation  being  made,"  writes  Sir 
John  Davies,  "  he  first  propounded  and  passed  in  Parlia- 
ment these  lawes,  which  made  the  great  alteration  in  the 
state  ecclesiastical,  namely,  the  act  which  declared  king 
Henry  VIII.  to  be  supreme  head  of  the  Church  of  Ireland  ; 
the  act  prohibiting  apeales  to  the  Church  of  Rome ;  the 
12 


266 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


act  for  first  fruites  and  twentieth  part  to  be  paid  to  the 
king ;  and  lastly,  the  act  that  did  utterly  abolish  the 
usurped  authoritie  of  the  pope.  Next,  for  the  increase 
of  the  king's  revenew.  By  one  act  he  suppressed  sun- 
dry abbayes  and  religious  houses,  and  by  another  act 
resumed  the  lands  of  the  absentees. " 

The  Anglo-Norman  nobles  and  gentlemen  were  easily 
persuaded  to  enact  whatever  laws  the  king  wished,  but 
the  ecclesiastics  were  by  no  means  so  pliable.  Every 
division  had  the  privilege  of  sending  two  proctors  to 
Parliament,  and  these  proctors  so  vehemently  opposed 
the  royal  supremacy  in  matters  spiritual,  that  lords  Grey 
and  Brabazon  were  obliged  to  prorogue  the  Parliament, 
and  write  to  Crcm  well  to  state  that  they  had  been  obliged 
to  do  so  in  consequence  of  the  "  forwardness  and  obsti- 
nacy of  the  proctors,  of  the  clergy,  and  of  the  bishops 
and  abbots  ;  "  and  they  suggest  that  "  some  means 
should  be  devised,  whereby  they  should  be  brought  to 
remember  their  duty  better,"  or  that  "  means  may  be 
found  which  shall  put  these  proctors  from  a  voice  in 
Parliament."  The  means  were  easily  found  —  the  proc- 
tors were  forbidden  to  vote.    The  act  was  passed. 

As  it  was  now  evident  that  the  Irish  nation  would  not  ac- 
cept Henry's  supremacy,  an  expedient  was  prepared  for 
their  utter  extirpation.  It  would  be  impossible  to  believe 
that  the  human  heart  could  be  guilty  of  such  cruelty,  if 
we  had  not  evidence  of  the  fact  in  the  u  State  Papers." 
By  this  diabolical  scheme  it  was  arranged  to  kill  or  carry 
away  their  cattle,  and  to  destroy  their  corn  while  it  was 
green.  "  The  very  living  of  the  Irishry,"  observes  the 
writer,  "doth  clearly  consist  in  two  things;  and  take 
away  the  same  from  them,  and  they  are  past  power  to 
recover,  or  yet  to  annoy  any  subject  in  Ireland.  Take 
first  from  them  their  corn  —  burn  and  destroy  the  same  ; 
and  then  have  their  cattle  and  beasts,  which  shall  be 
the  most  hardest  to  come  by,  and  yet,  with  guides  and 
policy,  they  be  often  had  and  taken."  Such  was  the 
arrangement ;  and  it  was  from  no  want  of  inclination 
that  it  was  not  entirely  carried  out,  and  the  "  Irishry" 
starved  to  death  in  their  own  land. 

Dr.  Browne  still  kept  up  an  active  correspondence 
with  his  royal  master,  in  which  we  find  evidence  of  his 
miserable  servility,  and  the  spirit  by  which  he  was  actu- 


DR  BROWNE. 


26T 


ated  in  promoting  the  Reformation  in  Ireland.  In  a  let- 
ter, dated  27th  September,  1537,  he  commences  by  in- 
forming his  most  excellent  highness  that  he  had  received 
his  most  gracious  letter  on  the  7th  September,  and  that 
"it  made  him  tremble  in  body  for  fear  of  incurring  his 
majesty's  displeasure/7  which  was  doubtless  the  most 
truthful  statement.  He  mentions  all  his  zeal  and  efforts 
against  popery,  which,  he  adds,  "  is  a  thing  not  little 
rooted  among  the  inhabitants  here."  He  assures  the 
king  of  his  activity  in  securing  the  twentieth  part  and 
first  fruits  for  the  royal  use,  and  states  what,  indeed, 
could  not  be  denied,  that  he  was  the  "  first  spiritual  man 
who  moved  "  for  this  to  be  done.  He  concludes  with 
the  fearful  profanity  of  "  desiring  of  God,  that  the  ground 
should  open  and  swallow  him  up  the  hour  or  minute  that 
he  should  declare  the  Gospel  of  Christ  after  any  sort 
than  he  had  done  heretofore,  in  rebuking  the  papistical 
power,  or  in  any  other  point  concerning  the  advancement  of 
his  grace' s  affairs" 

Such  a  tissue  of  profanity  and  absurdity  was  seldom , 
penned,  even  in  an  age  when  the  boldest  and  bravest 
trembled  before  the  Tudor  frown. 

Dr.  Browne  and  the  lord  deputy  now  rivalled  each 
other  in  their  efforts  to  obtain  the  royal  approbation,  by 
destroying  all  that  the  Irish  people  held  most  sacred, 
determined  to  have  as  little  cause  as  possible  for  "the 
trembling  in  body  n  which  the  king's  displeasure  would 
effect.  They  traversed  the  land  from  end  to  end,  de- 
stroying cathedrals,  plundering  abbeys,  and  burning 
relics.  However  full  of  painful  interest  these  details 
may  be,  as  details  they  belong  to  the  province  of  the 
ecclesiastical  historian. 

In  January,  1539,  they  set  out  on  a  "  visitation  "  of 
the  four  counties  of  Carlow,  Wexford,  Waterford,  and 
Tipperary,  in  which  the  church  militant  was  for  the  nonce 
represented' by  the  church  military.  They  transmitted 
an  account  of  their  expedition,  and  the  novel  fashion  in 
which  they  attempted  to  propagate  the  gospel,  to  Eng- 
land, on  the  18th  of  January.  One  brief  extract  must 
suffice  as  a  specimen  of  their  proceedings.  "  The  day 
following  we  kept  the  sessions  there  (at  Wexford). 
There  was  put  to  execution  four  felons,  accompanied 
with  another,  a  friar,  whom  we  commanded  to  be  hanged 


268 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


in  his  habit,  and  so  to  remain  upon  the  gallows  for  a 
mirror  to  all  his  brethren  to  live  truly. " 

The  church  lands  were  now  sold  to  the  highest  bidder, 
or  bestowed  as  a  reward  upon  those  who  had  helped  to 
enrich  the  royal  coffers  by  sacrilege.  Amongst  the  rec- 
ords of  the  sums  thus  obtained,  we  find  326Z.  2s.  lid., 
the  price  of  divers  pieces  of  gold  and  silver,  of  precious 
stories,  silver  ornaments,  &c. ;  also  20Z.,  the  price  of  one 
thousand  pounds  of  wax.  The  sum  of  1,710Z.  2s.  was 
realized  from  the  sale  of  sacred  vessels  belonging  to 
thirty-nine  monasteries.  The  profits  on  the  spoliation 
of  St.  Mary 's,  Dublin,  realized  385Z.  The  destruction  of 
the  Collegiate  Church  of  St.  Patrick  must  have  procured 
an  enormous  profit,  as  we  find  that  Cromwell  received 
601.  for  his  pains  in  effecting  the  same.1  It  should  also 
be  remembered  that  the  value  of  a  penny  then  was  equal 
to  the  value  of  a  shilling  now,  so  that  we  should  multi- 
ply these  sums  at  least  by  ten  to  obtain  an  approximate 
idea  of  the  extent  of  this  wholesale  robbery. 

The  spoilers  now  began  to  quarrel  over  the  spoils. 
The  mqst  active  or  the  most  favored  received  the  largest 
share ;  and  Dr.  Browne  grumbled  loudly  at  not  ob- 
taining all  he  asked  for.  But  we  need  not  record  the 
disedifying  history  of  their  quarrels.  The  next  step  was 
to  accuse  each  other.  In  the  report  of  the  commission- 
ers appointed  in  1538  to  examine  into  the  state  of  the 
country,  we  find  complaints  made  of  the  exaction  of 
undue  fees,  extortions  for  baptisms  and  marriages,  &c. 
They  also  (though  this  was  not  made  an  accusation  by 
the  commissioners)  received  the  fruits  of  benefices  in 
which  they  did  not  officiate,  and  they  were  accused  of 
taking  wives  and  dispensing  with  the  sacrament  of  matri- 
mony. The  king,  whatever  personal  views  he  might  have 
on  this  subject,  expected  his  clergy  to  live  virtuously  ; 
and  in  1542  he  wrote  to  the  lord  deputy,  requiring  an 
act  to  be  passed  "for  the  continency  of  the  clergy/ ' 
and  some  '*  reasonable  plan  to  be  devised  for  the  avoid- 
ing of  sin."    However,  neither  the  act  nor  the  "rea- 

1  28th  Henry  VIII.  cap.  xvi.  In  Shirley's  Original  Letters,  p.  31,  we 
find  the  following  order  from  the  lord  protector  Somerset,  to  the 
dean  of  St.  Patrick's :  "  Being  advertised  that  one  thousand  ounces 
of  plate,  of  crosses,  and  such  like  things  remaineth  in  the  hands  of 
you,  we  require  you  to  deliver  the  same  to  be  employed  to  his  majes* 
ty's  use,"  &c.  He  adds  that  the  dean  is  to  receive  44  201.  in  ready  mon- 
ey "  for  the  safe  keeping  of  the  same. 


EDWARD  AND  MARY. 


269 


sonable  plan"  appears  to  have  succeeded.  In  1545  Dr. 
Browne  writes:  "  Here  reigneth  insatiable  ambition; 
here  reigneth  continually  coigne  and  livery,  and  callid 
extortion."  Five  years  later,  Sir  Anthony  St.  Leger, 
after  piteous  complaints  of  the  decay  of  piety  and  the 
increase  of  immorality,  epitomizes  the  state  of  the  coun- 
try thus :  "I  never  saw  the  land  so  far  out  of  good 
order." 

On  the  28th  of  January,  1547,  Edward  VI.  was  crowned 
king  of  England.  The  council  of  regency  appointed  by 
Henry  was  set  aside,  and  Seymour,  duke  of  Somerset, 
appointed  himself  protector.  St.  Leger  was  continued 
in  the  office  of  lord  deputy  in  Ireland ;  but  Sir  Edward 
Bellingham  was  sent  over  as  captain-general,  with  a 
considerable  force,  to  quell  the  ever-recurring  disturb- 
ances. His  energetic  character  bore  down  all  opposi- 
tion, as  much  by  the  sheer  strength  of  a  strong  will  as 
by  force  of  arms.  In  1549  the  earl  of  Desmond  refused 
to  attend  a  council  in  Dublin,  on  the  plea  that  he  wished 
to  keep  Christmas  in  his  own  castle.  Bellingham,  who 
had  now  replaced  St.  Leger  as  lord  deputy,  set  out  at 
once,  with  a  small  party  of  horse,  for  the  residence  of 
the  refractory  noble,  seized  him  as  he  sat  by  his  own  fire- 
side, and  carried  him  off  in  triumph  to  Dublin. 

In  1548  O'Connor  and  O'More  were  expelled  from  Of- 
faly  and  Leix,  and  their  territory  usurped  by  an  English- 
man named  Francis  Bryan.  Cahir  Roe  O'Connor,  one 
of  the  sept,  was  executed  in.Dublin,  and  a  number  of 
the  tribe  were  sent  to  assist  in  the  Scotch  wars.  The 
political  cabals  in  England  consequent  on  the  youth  of 
the  king,  who  nominally  governed  the  country,  occa- 
sioned frequent  changes  in  the  Irish  administration. 

In  1551  the  lord  deputy,  Crofts,  who  succeeded  Sir 
Thomas  Cusack,  led  an  army  into  Ulster  against  the 
Scotch  settlers,  who  had  long  been  regarded  with  a  jeal- 
ous eye  by  the  English  government;  but  he  was  de- 
feated both  at  this  time  and  on  a  subsequent  occasion. 
No  Parliament  was  convened  during  this  short  reign, 
and  the  affairs  of  the  country  were  administered  by  the 
Privy  Council.  Dr.  Browne  and  Dr.  Staples  were  lead- 
ing members.  The  chancellor,  Read,  and  the  treasurer, 
Brabazon,  were  both  English.  The  Irish  members  were 
Aylmer,  Luttrell,  Bath,  Howth,  and  Cusack,  who  had 


270 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


all  recently  conformed,  at  least  exteriorly,  to  the  new- 
religion. 

The  most  important  native  chieftain  of  the  age  was 
Shane  O'Neill.  His  father,  Con,  surnamed  Baccagh 
("the  lame"),  had  procured  the  title  of  baron  of  Dun- 
gannon,  and  the  entail  of  the  earldom  of  Tyrone,  from 
Henry  VII.,  for  his  illegitimate  son,  Ferdoragh.  He  now- 
wished  to  alter  this  arrangement;  but  the  ungrateful 
youth  made  such  charges  against  the  old  man,  that  he 
was  seized  and  imprisoned  by  the  deputy.  After  his 
death  Shane  contended  bravely  for  his  rights.  The 
French  appear  to  have  made  some  attempt  about  this 
period  to  obtain  allies  in  Ireland,  but  the  peace  which 
ensued  between  that  country  and  England  soon  termi- 
nated such  intrigues. 

All  efforts  to  establish  the  royal  supremacy  during 
this  reign  were  equally  unsuccessful.  On  Easter  Sun- 
day, a.  d.  1551,  the  liturgy  was  read  for  the  first  time  in 
the  English  tongue  in  Christ  Church  Cathedral.  As  a 
reward  for  his  energy  in  introducing  the  reform  in  gen- 
eral, and  the  liturgy  in  particular,  Edward  VI.  annexed 
the  primacy  of  all  Ireland  to  the  see  of  Dublin  by  act  of 
Parliament.  There  was  one  insuperable  obstacle,  how- 
ever, in  the  way  of  using  the  English  tongue,  which  was 
simply  that  the  people  did  not  understand  it.  Even  the 
descendants  of  the  Anglo-Normans  were  more  familiar 
with  the  Celtic  dialect,  and  some  attempt  was  made  at 
this  time  to  procure  a  Latin  translation  of  the  Protestant 
communion  service. 

When  Mary  ascended  the  throne  of  England,  in  1553, 
the  Irish  were  naturally  much  elated,  hoping  for  a  time 
of  peace.  This  they  certainly  obtained,  as  far  as  the 
permission  to  exercise  their  religion  unmolested  was 
concerned,  but  they  failed  to  secure  any  temporal  ad- 
vantages. 

A  synod  was  held  at  Dundalk,  where  the  very  few 
prelates  and  priests  who  had  conformed  under  Henry 
VIII.  were  deprived  of  their  offices.  The  number  was 
so  small  that  the  necessary  arrangements  were  easily 
made.  The  only  prelates  that  were  removed  were 
Browne,  of  Dublin ;  Staples,  of  Meath ;  Lancaster,  of 
Kildare  ;  and  Travers,  of  Leighlin.  Goodacre  died  a 
few  months  after  his  intrusion  into  the  see  of  Armagh  ; 


SHANE  O'NEILL. 


271 


Bale,  of  Ossory,  fled  beyond  the  seas  ;  Casey,  of  Limer- 
ick followed  his  example.  All  were  English  except  the 
latter,  and  all,  except  Staples,  were  professing  Protes- 
tants at  the  time  of  their  appointment  to  their  respective 
sees.  Bale,  who  owed  the  Kilkenny  people  a  grudge,  for 
the  indignant  and  rather  warm  reception  with  which  they 
greeted  him  on  his  intrusion  into  the  see,  gives  a  graphic 
account  of  the  joy  with  which  the  news  of  Edward's 
death  was  received.  The  people  "  flung  up  their  caps 
to  the  battlements  of  the  great  temple ;  "  set  the  bells 
ringing ;  brought  out  incense  and  holy  water,  and  formed 
once  more  a  Catholic  procession,  chanting  the  Sancta 
Maria,  ora  pro  nobis,  as  of  old.  In  fact,  "  on  the  acces- 
sion of  Mary  to  the  throne,  so  little  had  been  done  in  the 
interest  of  the  Reformation,  that  there  was  little  or  noth- 
ing to  undo.  She  issued  a  license  for  the  celebration 
of  Mass  in  Ireland,  where  no  other  service  was  or  had 
been  celebrated  worth  mentioning,  and  where  no  other 
supreme  head  had  been  ever  in  earnest  acknowledged 
but  the  pope." 

In  the  year  1553  Gerald  and  Edward,  the  sons  of  the 
late  earl  of  Kildare,  returned  from  exile,  and  were  re- 
stored to  the  family  honors  and  possessions.  The  Four 
Masters  say  that  "  there  was  great  rejoicing  because 
of  their  arrival,  for  it  was  thought  that  not  one  of  the 
descendants  of  the  earls  of  Kildare  or  of  the  O'Connors 
Faly  would  ever  again  come  to  Ireland,"  They  also 
mention  that  Margaret,  a  daughter  of  O'Connor  Faly, 
went  to  England,  "  relying  on  the  number  of  her  friends 
and  relatives  there,  and  her  knowledge  of  the  English 
language,  to  request  queen  Mary  to  restore  her  father 
to  her."  Her  petition  was  granted,  but  he  was  soon 
after  seized  again  by  the  English  officials  and  cast  into 
prison. 

Shane  O'Neill  made  an  unsuccessful  attempt  to  recover 
his  paternal  dominions,  in  1557.  The  following  year  his 
father  died  in  captivity,1  in  Dublin,  and  he  procured  the 

1  Lord  chancellor  Cusack  addressed  a  very  curious  Book  on  the  State 
of  Ireland  to  the  duke  of  Northumberland,  in  1552,  in  which  he  men- 
tions the  fearful  condition  of  the  northern  counties.  He  states  that 
"  the  cause  why  the  earl  was  retained  (in  Dublin  castle)  was  for  the 
wasting  and  destroying  of  his  county."  This  work  is  one  of  consid- 
erable interest,  and  gives  important  and  reliable  details,  both  of  pub- 
lic affairs  and  of  the  private  feuds  which  tended  so  much  to  compli- 
cate the  politics  of  the  period.  It  would  well  repay  the  student  for  a 
careful  perusal. 


272 


COMPENDIUM  OP  IRISH  HISTORY. 


murder  of  Ferdoragh,  so  that  he  was  able  to  obtain  his 
wishes  without  opposition.  Elizabeth  had  now  ascended 
the  English  throne  (a.  d.  1558),  and,  as  usual,  those  in 
power,  who  wished  to  retain  office,  made  their  religion 
suit  the  views  of  the  new  ruler.  The  earl  of  Sussex 
still  continued  viceroy,  and  merely  reversed  his  previous 
acts.  Sir  Henry  Sidney  also  made  his  worldly  interests 
and  his  religious  views  coincide.  A  Parliament  was 
held  in  Dublin,  in  1560,  on  the  12th  of  January.  It  was 
composed  of  seventy-six  members,  the  representatives 
of  ten  counties,  the  remainder  being  citizens  and  bur- 
gesses of  those  towns  in  which  the  royal  authority  was 
predominant.  "  It  is  little  wonder,"  observes  Leland, 
"  that,  in  despite  of  clamor,  and  opposition,  in  a  session 
of  a  few  weeks,  the  whole  ecclesiastical  system  of  queen 
Mary  was  entirely  reversed."  Every  subject  connected 
with  this  assembly  and  its  enactments  demands  the  most 
careful  consideration,  as  it  has  been  asserted  by  some 
writers  —  who,  however,  have  failed  to  give  the  proofs 
of  their  assertion  — that  the  Irish  Church  and  nation  fol- 
lowed the  example  of  England.  This  certainly  was  not 
the  opinion  of  the  government  officials,  who  were  ap- 
pointed by  royal  authority  to  enforce  the  act,  and  who 
would  have  been  only  too  happy  could  they  have  reported 
success  to  their  mistress. 

The  official  list  of  the  members  summoned  to  this  Par- 
liament has  been  recently  published  by  the  Irish  Archae- 
ological Society.  More  than  two-thirds  of  the  upper 
house  were  persons  of  whose  devotion  to  the  Catholic 
faith  there  has  been  no  question ;  there  were  but  few 
members  in  the  lower  house.  No  county  in  Ulster  was 
allowed  a  representative,  and  only  one  of  its  borough 
towns,  Carrickfergus,  was  permitted  to  elect  a  member. 
Munster  furnished  twenty  members.  No  county  mem- 
bers were  allowed  in  Connaught,  and  it  had  only  two 
boroughs,  Galway  and  Athenry,  from  which  it  could  send 
a  voice  to  represent  its  wishes.  The  remaining  fifty 
members  were  chosen  from  a  part  of  Leinster.  In  fact, 
the  Parliament  was  constituted  on  the  plan  before  men- 
tioned. Those  who  were  considered  likely  to  agree 
with  the  government  were  allowed  to  vote ;  those  of 
whose  dissent  there  could  be  no  doubt  were  not  allowed 
a  voice  in  the  affairs  of  the  nation. 


PARLIAMENTARY  TREACHERY. 


2T3 


It  might  be  supposed  that,  with  the  exception  of  a 
few  members  of  the  upper  house,  such  a  Parliament 
would  at  once  comply  with  the  queen's  wishes  ;  but  the 
majority  made  no  secret  of  their  intention  to  oppose  the 
change  of  religion,  and  the  penal  code  which  should  be 
enacted  to  enforce  it.  The  deputy  was  in  an  unpleasant 
position.  Elizabeth  would  not  easily  brook  the  slight- 
est opposition  to  her  wishes.  The  deputy  did  not  feel 
prepared  to  encounter  her  anger,  and  he  determined  to 
avoid  the  difficulty,  by  having  recourse  to  a  most  unwor- 
thy stratagem.  First,  he  prorogued  the  house  from  the 
11th  of  January  to  the  1st  of  February,  1560  ;  and  then 
took  advantage  of  the  first  day  of  meeting,  when  but 
few  members  were  present,  to  get  the  act  passed ;  sec- 
ondly, he  solemnly  swore  that  the  law  should  never  be 
carried  into  execution,  and  by  this  false  oath  procured 
the  compliance  of  those  who  still  hesitated.  I  shall  give 
authority  for  these  statements. 

The  letter  of  Elizabeth,  with  her  positive  instructions 
to  have  the  law  passed,  was  dated  October  18,  1559, 
and  may  be  seen  in  extenso  in  the  Liber  Munerum  Hiber- 
nicBy  vol.  i.,  p.  113.  There  are  several  authorities  for 
the  dishonest  course  pursued  by  the  lord  deputy.  The 
author  of  Cambrensis  Eversus  says :  "  The  deputy  is 
said  to  have  used  force,  and  the  speaker  treachery.  I 
heard  that  it  had  been  previously  announced  in  the  house 
that  Parliament  would  not  sit  on  that  very  day  on  which 
the  laws  against  religion  were  enacted  ;  but,  in  the  mean- 
time, a  private  summons  was  sent  to  those  who  were 
well  known  to  be  favorable  to  the  old  creed. "  Father 
George  Dillon,  who  died  in  1650,  a  martyr  to  his  charity 
in  assisting  the  plague-stricken  people  of  Waterford, 
gives  the  following  account  of  the  transaction  :  "  J ames 
Stanihurst,  lord  of  Corduff,  who  was  speaker  of  the  lower 
house,  by  sending  private  summons  to  some,  without 
any  intimation  to  the  more  respectable  Irish  who  had  a 
right  to  attend,  succeeded  in  carrying  that  law  by  sur- 
prise. As  soon  as  the  matter  was  discovered,  in  the 
next  full  meeting  of  Parliament,  there  was  a  general  pro- 
test against  the  fraud,  injustice,  and  deliberate  treachery 
of  the  proceeding;  but  the  lord  justice  having  solemnly 
sworn  that  the  law  would  never  be  carried  into  execu- 
tion, the  remonstrants  were  caught  in  the  dexterous 


2U 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


snare,  and  consented  that  the  enactment  should  remain 
on  the  statute-book." 

The  Loftus  manuscript,  in  Marsh's  Library,  and  Sir 
James  Ware,  both  mention  the  positive  refusal  of  the 
Parliament  to  pass  this  law,  and  the  mission  of  the  earl 
of  Sussex  to  consult  her  majesty  as  to  what  should  be 
done  with  the  refractory  members.  If  he  then  proposed 
the  treachery  which  he  subsequently  carried  out,  there 
is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  Elizabeth  would  have  been 
squeamish  about  it,  as  we  find  she  was  quite  willing  to 
allow  even  more  questionable  methods  to  be  employed 
on  other  occasions. 

The  Loftus  manuscript  mentions  a  convocation  of 
bishops  which  assembled  this  year,  "  by  the  queen's  com- 
mand, for  establishing  the  Protestant  religion."  The 
convocation  was,  if  possible,  a  greater  failure  than  the 
Parliament.1 

Notwithstanding  the  solemn  promise  of  the  lord  dep- 
uty, the  penal  statutes  against  Catholics  were  carried 
out.  In  1563  the  earl  of  Essex  issued  a  proclamation, 
by  which  all  priests,  secular  and  regular,  were  forbidden 
to  officiate,  or  even  to  reside  in  Dublin.  Fines  and 
penalties  were  strictly  enforced  for  absence  from  the 
Protestant  service  ;  before  long,  torture  and  death  were 
inflicted. 

Curry  gives  some  account  of  those  who  suffered  for 
the  faith  in  this  reign.  He  says  :  M  Among  many  other 
Eoman  Catholic  bishops  and  priests,  there  were  put  to 
death,  for  the  exercise  of  their  function  in  Ireland, 
Globy  0'Bo}'le,  abbot  of  Boyle,  and  Owen  O'Mulkeran, 
abbot  of  the  monastery  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  hanged  and 
quartered  by  lord  Grey,  in  1580.  John  Stephens  suf- 
fered the  same  punishment  from  lord  Burroughs,  for  say- 
ing Mass  in  1597  ;  Thady  O'Boyle  was  slain  in  his  own 

1  Mr.  Froude  remarks,  in  his  History  of  England,  vol.  x.  p.  480: 
"  There  is  no  evidence  that  any  of  the  bishops  in  Ireland  who  were 
in  office  at  queen  Mary's  death,  with  the  exception  of  Curwin,  either 
accepted  the  Reformed  Prayer  Book,  or  abjured  the  authority  of  the 
pope."  He  adds,  in  a  foot-note :  "  I  cannot  but  express  my  astonish- 
ment at  a  proposition  maintained  by  bishop  Mant  and  others,  that 
the  whole  hierarchy  of  Ireland  went  over  to  the  Reformation  with 
the  Government.  In  a  survey  of  the  country  supplied  by  Cecil  in  1571, 
after  death  and  deprivation  had  enabled  the  government  to  fill  sev- 
eral sees,  the  arehbishops  of  Armagh,  Tuam,  andCashel,  with  almost 
every  one  of  the  bishops  of  the  respective  provinces,  are  described 
as  Catholici  ct  Confederati.  The  archbishop  of  Dublin,  with  the  bishops 
of  Kilciare,  Ossory,  and  Ferns,  are  alone  returned  as  1  Protestants n 


PERSECUTION  OF  THE  CATHOLICS.  275 

monastery  at  Donegal;  six  friars  were  slain  at  Moynihi- 
gan ;  John  O'Calyhor  and  Bryan  O'Freeor  were  killed 
at  their  monastery  in  Ulster,  with  Felimy  O'Hara,  a  lay 
brother.  Eneus  Penny  was  massacred  at  the  altar  of  his 
own  parish  church,  Killagh.  Fourteen  other  priests  died 
in  Dublin  castle,  either  from  hard  usage  or  the  violence 
of  torture/ ' 

Dr.  Adam  Loftus,  the  Protestant  archbishop  of  Ar- 
xnagh,  was  one  of  the  most  violent  persecutors  of  the 
Catholics.  In  his  first  report  to  the  queen,  dated  May 
17th,  1565,  he  describes  the  nobility  of  the  Pale  as  all 
devoted  to  the  ancient  creed  ;  and  he  recommends  that 
they  should  be  fined,  "in  a  good  round  sum,"  which 
should  be  paid  to  her  majesty's  use,  and  "  sharply  dealt 
withal."  On  September  22,  1590,  after  twenty-five  years 
had  been  spent  in  the  fruitless  attempt  to  convert  the 
Irish,  he  writes  to  lord  Burleigh,  detailing  the  causes 
of  the  general  decay  of  the  Protestant  religion  in  Ire- 
land, and  suggesting  "  how  the  same  may  be  remedied." 
He  advises  that  the  ecclesiastical  commission  should 
be  put  in  force,  "  for  the  people  are  poor,  and  fear  to  be 
fined."  He  requests  that  he  and  such  commissioners  as 
are  "  well  affected  in  religion,  may  be  permitted  to  im- 
prison and  fine  all  such  as  are  obstinate  and  disobedient ; " 
and  he  has  no  doubt,  that  "  within  a  short  time  they 
will  be  reduced  to  good  conformity." 

Even  Sir  J ohn  Perrot,  who  has  the  name  of  being  one 
of  the  most  humane  of  the  lord  deputies,  could  not 
refrain  from  acts  of  cruelty  where  Catholics  were  con- 
cerned. On  one  occasion  he  killed  fifty  persons,  and 
brought  their  heads  home  in  triumph  to  Kilmallock, 
where  he  arranged  them  as  a  trophy  round  the  cross 
in  the  public  square.  In  1582  he  advised  her  majesty 
u  that  friars,  monks,  Jesuits,  priests,  nuns,  and  such 
like  vermin,  who  openly  uphold  the  papacy,  should  be 
executed  by  martial  law."  The  officers  of  the  troops 
sent  to  put  down  popery  seem  to  have  rivalled  each  other 
in  acts  of  cruelty.  One  is  said  to  have  tied  his  victim 
to  a  maypole,  and  then  punched  out  his  eyes  with  his 
thumbs.  Others  amused  themselves  with  flinging  up 
infants  into  the  air,  and  catching  them  on  the  points  of 
their  swords.  Francis  Crosby,  the  deputy  of  Leix,  used 
to  hang  men,  women,  and  children  on  an  immense  tree 


276 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


which  grew  before  his  door,  without  any  crime  being 
imputed  to  them  except  their  faith,  and  then  to  watch 
with  delight  how  the  unhappy  infants  hung  by  the  long 
hair  of  their  martyred  mothers. 


REVOLTS  OF  THE  IRISH  CHIEFTAINS. 


an 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

A.  D.  1561  TO  A.D.  1599. 

REVOLTS  OF  THE  IRISH  CHIEFTAINS  DURING  THE 
REIGN  OF  QUEEN  ELIZABETH. 

Contemporary  Events  :  —Marriage  of  Mary  Queen  of  Scots  and  Lord 
Darn  ley— Pius  V.  Pope— Battle  of  Lepanto— Massacre  of  St.  Bar- 
tholomew's Day— Portugal  united  to  Spain— Execution  of  Mary 
Queen  of  Scots— Destruction  of  the  Spanish  Armada— Death  of 
Philip  III.  of  Spain. 

The  exploits  of  Shane  O'Neill,  and  his  gallant  resist- 
ance to  English  rule  in  Ireland,  belong  almost  to  the 
romance  of  history.  He  was  an  Ulster  chieftain  of  the 
old  race,  and  had  not  only  held  his  own  territory,  but 
also  added  to  it  by  conquest,  so  that  he  ruled  the  whole 
of  Ulster. 

Even  his  letters  are  signed,  if  not  written,  in  royal 
style.  He  dates  one  Ex  finibus  de  Tirconail,  when 
about  to  wage  war  with  the  neighboring  sept  of  O'Don- 
nelPs;  he  dates  another,  Ex  Silvis  meis ;  when,  in  pur- 
suance of  his  Celtic  mode  of  warfare,  he  hastened  into 
his  woods  to  avoid  an  engagement  with  the  English  sol- 
diers, he  signs  himself  Misi  O'Neill — Me,  the  O'Neill. 

In  1561  Sussex  returned  from  England  with  reinforce- 
ments for  his  army,  and  marched  to  Armagh,  where  he 
established  himself  in  the  cathedral.  From  thence  he 
sent  out  a  large  body  of  troops  to  plunder  in  Tyrone, 
but  they  were  intercepted  by  the  redoubtable  Shane 
O'Neill,  and  suffered  so  serious  a  defeat  as  to  alarm  the 
inhabitants  of  the  Pale,  and  even  the  English  nation. 
Fresh  supplies  of  men  and  arms  were  hastily  despatched 
from  England,  and  the  earls  of  Desmond,  Ormonde,  Kil- 
dare,  Thomond  and  Clanrickarde  assembled  around  the 
viceregal  standard  to  assist  in  suppressing  the  formida- 
ble foe.    And  well  might  they  fear  the  lion-hearted 


2*8 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


chieftain !  A  few  years  later,  Sidney  describes  him  as 
the  only  strong  man  in  Ireland.  The  queen  was  warned 
that,  unless  he  were  speedily  put  down,  she  would  lose 
Ireland,  as  her  sister  had  lost  Calais.  He  had  gained 
all  Ulster  by  his  sword,  and  ruled  therein  with  a  far 
stronger  hand,  and  on  a  far  firmer  foundation,  than  ever 
any  English  monarch  had  obtained  in  any  part  of  Ire- 
land. Ulster  was  his  terra  clausa;  and  he  would  be  a 
bold,  and  perhaps  a  rash  man,  who  dare  intrude  in  these 
dominions.  He  could  muster  seven  thousand  men  in 
the  field ;  and  though  he  seldom  hazarded  a  general 
engagement,  he  i  1  slew  in  divers  conflicts  three  thousand 
jve  hundred  soldiers,  and  three  hundred  Scots  of  Sid- 
ney's army."  The  English  chronicler,  Hooker,  who 
lived  in  times  when  the  blaze  and  smoke  of  houses  and 
haggards,  set  on  fire  by  Shane,  could  be  seen  even  from 
Dublin  castle,  declares  that  it  was  feared  he  intended  to 
make  a  conquest  of  the  whole  land. 

As  this  man  was  too  clever  to  be  captured,  and  too 
brave  to  be  conquered,  a  plan  was  arranged,  with  Eliz- 
abeth's free  concurrence,  to  get  rid  of  him  by  poison  or 
assassination.  The  evidence  of  the  royal  complicity  is 
preserved  in  the  records  of  the  State  Paper  Office. 

The  proposal  for  this  diabolical  treachery,  and  the 
arrangements  made  for  carrying  it  out,  were  related  by 
Sussex  to  the  queen.  He  writes  thus:  "In  fine,  I 
brake  with  him  to  kill  Shane,  and  bound  myself  by  my 
oath  to  see  him  have  a  hundred  marks  of  land  to  him  and 
to  his  heirs  for  reward.  He  seemed  desirous  of  serving 
your  highness,  and  to  have  the  land,  but  fearful  to  do 
it,  doubting  his  own  escape  after.  I  told  him  the  ways 
he  might  do  it,  and  how  to  escape  after  with  safety; 
which  he  offered  and  promised  to  do."  The  earl  adds  a 
piece  of  information,  which,  no  doubt,  he  communicated 
to  the  intended  murderer,  and  which,  probably,  decided 
him  on  making  the  attempt:  "I  assure  your  highness 
he  may  do  it  without  danger  if  he  will;  and  if  he  will 
not  do  what  he  may  in  your  service,  there  will  be  done 
to  him  what  others  may." 

Her  majesty,  however,  had  a  character  to  support ; 
and  whatever  she  may  have  privately  wished  and  com- 
manded, she  was  obliged  to  disavow  complicity  pub- 
licly.   In  two  despatches  from  court  she  expresses  her 


ATTEMPT  TO  POISON  O'NEILL. 


279 


V  displeasure  at  John  Smith's  horrible  attempt  to  poison 
Shane  O'Neill  in  his  wine."  In  the  following  spring 
John  Smith  was  committed  to  prison,  and  "closely 
examined  by  lord  chancellor  Cusake."  What  became 
of  John  is  not  recorded,  but  it  is  recorded  that  "  lord 
chancellor  Cusake  persuaded  O'Neill  to  forget  the  poi- 
soning." His  clan,  however,  were  not  so  easily  per- 
suaded, and  strongly  objected  to  his  meeting  the  vice- 
roy in  person,  or  affording  him  an  opportunity  which  he 
might  not  live  to  forget.  About  this  time  O'Neill  de- 
spatched a  document  to  the  viceroy  for  his  consideration, 
containing  a  list  of  "  other  evill  practices  devised  to  other 
of  the  Irish  nation  within  ix  or  tenn  yeares  past."  The 
first  item  mentions  that  Donill  O'Breyne  and  Morghe 
O'Breyne,  his  son,  "  required  the  benefit  of  her  majesty's 
laws,  by  which  they  required  to  be  tried,  and  thereof 
was  denied  ;  "  and  that  when  they  came  to  Limerick 
under  the  protection  of  the  lord  deputy,  they  were  pro- 
claimed traitors,  and  their  lands  and  possessions  taken 
from  them.  Several  other  violations  of  protection  are 
then  enumerated,  and  several  treacherous  murders  are  re- 
corded, particularly  the  murder  of  Art  Boy  Cavanagh, 
at  Captain  Hearn's  house,  after  he  had  dined  with  him, 
and  of  Randall  Boye's  two  sons,  who  were  murdered, 
one  after  supper,  and  the  other  in  the  tower,  by  Brere- 
ton,  "who  escaped  without  punishment." 

In  October,  1562,  Shane  was  invited  to  England,  and 
was  received  by  Elizabeth  with  marked  courtesy.  His 
appearance  at  court  is  thus  described  by  Camden,  a.  d. 
1562:  "From  Ireland  came  Shane  O'Neill,  who  had 
promised  to  come  the  year  before,  with  a  guard  of  axe^ 
bearing  galioglasses,  their  heads  bare,  their  long  curling 
hair  flowing  on  their  shoulders,  their  linen  garments  dyed 
with  saffron,  with  long  open  sleeves,  with  short  tunics, 
and  furry  cloaks,  whom  the  English  wondered  at  as  much 
as  they  do  now  at  the  Chinese  or  American  aborigines." 
Shane's  visit  to  London  was  considered  of  such  import-* 
ance  that  we  find  a  memorandum  in  the  State  Paper 
Office,  by  "  secretary  Sir  W.  Cecil,  March,  1562,"  of 
the  means  to  be  used  with  Shane  O'Neill,  in  which  the 
first  item  is  that  "  he  be  procured  to  change  his  gar- 
ments, and  go  like  an  Englishman."  But  this  was  pre-  • 
cisely  what  O'Neill  had  no  idea  of  doing.  Sussex  appears 


280 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


to  have  been  O'Neill's  declared  and  open  enemy.  There 
is  more  than  one  letter  extant  from  the  northern  chief  to 
the  deputy.  In  one  of  these  he  says  :  "I  wonder  very 
much  for  what  purpose  your  lordship  strives  to  destroy 
me."  In  another,  he  declares  that  his  delay  in  visiting 
the  queen  had  been  caused  by  the  "  amount  of  obstruc- 
tion which  Sussex  had  thrown  in  his  way,  by  sending  a 
force  of  occupation  into  his  territory  without  cause  ; 
for  as  long  as  there  shall  be  one  son  of  a  Saxon  in  my 
territory  against  my  will,  from  that  time  forth  I  will  not 
send  you  either  settlement  or  message,  but  will  send  my 
complaint  through  some  other  medium  to  the  queen." 
In  writing  to  the  Baron  of  Slane,  he  says  that  "  nothing 
will  please  him  (the  deputy)  but  to  plant  himself  in  my 
lands  and  my  native  territory,  as  I  am  told  every  day 
that  he  desires  to  be  styled  earl  of  Ulster." 

The  lord  chancellor  Cusack  appears,  on  the  contrary, 
to  have  constantly  befriended  him.  On  January  12, 
1568,  he  writes  of  O'Neill's  "  dutifulness  and  most  com- 
mendable dealing  with  the  Scots  ;  "  and  soon  after  three 
English  members  of  the  Dublin  government  complain 
that  Cusack  had  entrapped  them  into  signing  a  letter  to 
the  unruly  chieftain.  There  is  one  dark  blot  upon  the 
escutcheon  of  this  remarkable  man.  He  had  married  the 
daughter  of  O'Donnell,  lord  of  one  of  the  Hebrides. 
After  a  time  he  and  his  father-in-law  quarrelled,  and 
Shane  contrived  to  capture  O'Donnell  and  his  second 
wife.  He  kept  this  lady  for  several  years  as  his  mis- 
tress ;  and  his  own  wife  is  said  to  have  died  of  shame  and 
horror  at  his  conduct,  and  at  his  cruel  treatment  of  her 
father. 

After  many  ineffectual  attempts  at  assassination,  Shane 
at  last  fell  a  victim  to  treachery.  Sir  William  Piers,  the 
governor  of  Carrickfergus,  invited  some  Scotch  soldiers 
over  to  Ireland,  and  then  persuaded  them  to  quarrel 
with  him  and  kill  him.  They  accomplished  their  purpose 
by  raising  a  disturbance  at  a  feast,  when  they  rushed  on 
the  northern  chieftain,  and  despatched  him  with  their 
swords.  His  head  was  sent  to  Dublin,  and  his  old  ene- 
mies took  the  poor  revenge  of  impaling  it  on  the  castle 
walls. 

The  earl  of  Sussex  was  recalled  from  Ireland  in  1564, 
p  and  Sir  Henry  Sidney  was  appointed  viceroy.    The  earls 


SIDNEY'S  VICEROY  ALTY. 


281 


of  Ormonde  and  Desmond  had  again  quarrelled,  and  in 
1562  both  earls  were  summoned  to  court  by  the  queen. 
Elizabeth  was  related  to  the  Butlers  through  her  mother's 
family,  and  used  to  boast  of  the  loyalty  of  the  house  of 
Ormonde.  The  Geraldines  adhered  to  the  ancient  faith, 
and  suffered  for  it.  A  battle  was  fought  at  Affane,  near 
Cappoquin,  between  the  two  parties,  in  which  Desmond 
was  wounded  and  made  prisoner.  The  man  who  bore 
him  from  the  field  asked,  tauntingly :  Where  is  now 
the  proud  earl  of  Desmond  ?  "  He  replied,  with  equal 
pride  and  wit:  "Where  he  should  be;  upon  the  necks 
of  the  Butlers." 

At  the  close  of  the  month  of  January,  1567,  the  lord 
deputy  set  out  on  a  visitation  of  Munster  and  Connaught. 
In  his  official  account  he  writes  thus  of  Munster  :  "  Like 
as  I  never  was  in  a  more  pleasant  country  in  all  my  life, 
so  never  saw  I  a  more  waste  and  desolate  land.  Such 
horrible  and  lamentable  spectacles  are  there  to  behold 
—  as  the  burning  of  villages,  the  ruin  of  churches,  the 
wasting  of  such  as  have  been  good  towns  and  castles ; 
yea,  the  view  of  the  bones  and  skulls  of  the  dead  sub- 
jects, who,  partly  by  murder,  partly  by  famine,  have 
died  in  the  fields  —  as,  in  truth,  hardly  any  Christian 
with  dry  eyes  could  behold."  He  declares  that  in  the 
territory  subject  to  the  earl  of  Ormonde  he  witnessed  "  a 
want  of  justice  and  judgment."  He  describes  the  earl 
of  Desmond  as  "a  man  devoid  of  judgment  to  govern, 
and  of  will  to  be  ruled."  The  earl  of  Thomond,  he  says, 
"  had  neither  wit  of  himself  to  govern,  nor  grace  nor 
capacity  to  learn  of  others."  The  earl  of  Clanrickarde 
he  describes  as  "  so  overruled  by  a  putative  wife,  as  oft- 
times,  when  he  best  intendeth,  she  forceth  him  to  do  the 
worst ;  "  and  it  would  appear  that  neither  he  nor  his 
lady  could  govern  their  own  family,  for  their  sons  were 
so  turbulent  that  they  kept  the  whole  country  in  disturb- 
ance. In  Galway  he  found  the  people  trying  to  protect 
themselves  as  best  they  might  from  their  dangerous 
neighbors;  and  at  Athenry  there  were  but  four  respect- 
able householders,  who  presented  him  with  the  rusty 
keys  of  their  town  —  "a  pitiful  and  lamentable  present ;  " 
and  they  requested  him  to  keep  those  keys,  for  **  they 
were  so  impoverished  by  the  extortions  of  the  lords 


282 


COMPENDIUM  OP  IRISH  HISTORY. 


about  them,  as  they  were  no  longer  able  to  keep  that 
town." 

Nor  was  the  state  of  religious  affairs  at  all  more  prom- 
ising. The  deputy  describes  the  kingdom  as  "  over- 
whelmed by  the  most  deplorable  immorality  and  irre- 
ligion  ;  "  the  Privy  Council,  in  their  deliberations,  give 
a  similar  account.  "As  for  religion,  there  was  but  small 
appearance  of  it ;  the  churches  uncovered,  and  the  clergy 
scattered. "  .An  act  of  Parliament  was  then  passed  to 
remedy  the  evils  which  acts  of  Parliament  had  created. 
In  the  preamble  (11th  Elizabeth,  sess.  iii.  cap.  6.)  it  men- 
tions the  disorders  which  Sidney  had  found,  and  com- 
plains of  "  the  great  abuse  of  the  clergy  in  getting  into 
the  said  dignities  by  force,  simony,  friendship,  and  other 
corrupt  means,  to  the  great  overthrow  of  God's  holy 
Church  ;  99  and  for  remedy,  the  act  authorizes  the  lord 
deputy  to  appoint  for  ten  years,  to  all  the  ecclesiastical 
benefices  of  these  provinces,  with  the  exception  of  the 
cathedral  churches  of  Waterford,  Limerick,  Cork,  and 
Cashel. 

But  it  was  soon  evident  that  acts  of  Parliament  could 
not  effect  ecclesiastical  reforms,  though  they  might  en- 
force exterior  conformity  to  a  new  creed.  In  1576  Sid- 
ney again  complains  of  the  state  of  the  Irish  church, 
and  addresses  himself,  with  almost  blasphemous  flattery, 
to  the  head  of  that  body, i '  as  to  the  only  sovereign  salve- 
giver  to  this  your  sore  and  sick  realm,  the  lamentable 
state  of  the  most  noble  and  principal  limb  thereof — the 
Church  I  mean  —  as  foul,  deformed,  and  as  cruelly 
crushed  as  any  other  part  thereof,  only  by  your  gracious 
order  to  be  cured,  or  at  least  amended.  I  would  not 
have  believed,  had  I  not,  for  a  greater  part,  viewed  the 
same  throughout  the  whole  realm. 99  He  then  gives  a 
detailed  account  of  the  state  of  the  diocese  of  Meath, 
which  he  declares  to  be  the  best  governed  and  best  peo- 
pled diocese  in  the  realm ;  and  from  his  official  report  of 
the  state  of  religion  there,  he  thinks  her  majesty  may 
easily  judge  of  the  spiritual  condition  of  less  favored  dis- 
tricts. He  says  there  are  no  resident  parsons  or  vicars, 
and  only  a  very  simple  or  sorry  curate  appointed  to 
serve  them ;  of  them,  only  eighteen  could  speak  English, 
the  rest  being  "Irish  ministers;  or  rather  Irish  rogues, 


PLANTATION  OF  ULSTER. 


283 


having  very  little  Latin,  and  less  learning  or  civility." 
The  fact  was,  that  the  Irish  people,  whose  minds  had 
been  long  imbued  with  the  deepest  hatred  to  everything 
English,  abhorred  the  adoption  of  a  religion  which  came 
to  them  from  those  whom  they  considered  as  their 
oppressors.  They  saw  the  ancient  monasteries  and 
churches,  which  had  once  been  the  pride  of  their  coun- 
try, desolated  and  in  ruins.  They  could  not  be  expected 
to  repair  them  when  they  knew  that  they  would  be  no 
longer  used  by  the  priests  of  their  own  faith  ;  and  these 
same  priests  generally  remained  concealed  in  the  woods 
nearest  to  their  old  parish  churches,  and  whence  they 
came  forth  at  night  to  administer  the  sacraments  to  the 
people,  who  faithfully  guarded  their  retreat. 

Sidney  returned  to  England  in  1567,  where  his  pres- 
ence was  absolutely  necessary  for  his  own  interests,  as 
his  enemies  were  taking  advantage  of  his  absence  to 
discredit  his  government  with  the  queen.  He  was,  how- 
ever, permitted  to  return  in  1568,  when  he  landed  at  Car- 
rickfergus,  and  received  the  submission  of  Turlough 
O'Neill,  who  had  been  elected  chieftain  after  the  death 
of  Shane.  His  first  public  act  was  to  assemble  a  Parlia- 
ment, in  which  all  constitutional  rules  were  simply  set 
at  defiance  (January  17th,  1569).  Mayors  and  sheriffs 
returned  themselves ;  members  were  sent  up  for  towns 
not  incorporated,  and  several  Englishmen  were  elected 
as  burgesses  for  places  they  had  never  seen.  One  of 
these  men,  Hooker,  who  was  returned  for  Athenry,  has 
left  a  chronicle  of  the  age.  He  had  to  be  protected  by 
a  guard  in  going  to  his  residence.  Popular  feeling  was 
so  strongly  manifested  against  this  gross  injustice,  that 
the  judges  were  consulted  as  to  the  legality  of  proceed- 
ings, of  whose  iniquity  there  could  be  no  doubt.  The 
elections  for  non-corporate  towns,  and  the  elections  of 
individuals  by  themselves,  were  pronounced  invalid  ; 
but  a  decision  was  given  in  favor  of  non-resident  Eng- 
lishmen, which  still  gave  the  court  a  large  majority.  In 
this  Parliament  —  if,  indeed,  it  could  be  called  such  — 
acts  were  passed  for  attainting  Shane  O'Neill,  for  sup- 
pressing the  name,  and  for  annexing  Tyrone  to  the  royal 
possessions.  Charter  schools  were  to  be  founded,  of 
which  the  teachers  should  be  English  and  Protestants  ; 
and  the  law  before-mentioned,  for  permitting  the  lord 


284 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


deputy  to  appoint  persons  to  ecclesiastical  benefices  for 
ten  years,  was  passed. 

Sidney  now  attempted  a  plan  of  local  government  by 
appointing*  presidents  to  rule  different  provinces ;  but 
this  arrangement  simply  multiplied  the  number  of  li- 
cense.! oppressors.  Sir  Edward  Fitton  was  appointed 
president  of  Connaught,  and  Sir  J  ohn  Perrot,  ofMunster. 
Both  of  these  gentlemen  distinguished  themselves  by 
"  strong  measures,"  of  which  cruelty  to  the  unfortunate 
natives  was  the  predominant  feature.  Perrot  boasted 
that  he  would  lt  hunt  the  fox  out  of  his  hole,"  and  devoted 
himself  to  the  destruction  of  the  Geraldines.  Fittou  ar- 
rested the  earl  of  Clanrickarde,  and  excited  a  general 
disturbance.  In  1570  the  queen  determined  to  la}7  claim 
to  the  possessions  in  Ulster,  graciously  conceded  to  her 
by  the  gentlemen  who  had  been  permitted  to  vote  ac- 
cording to  her  royal  pleasure  in  the  so-called  Parliament 
of  1569.  She  bestowed  the  district  of  Ards,  in  Down, 
upon  her  secretary,  Sir  Thomas  Smith.  It  was  described 
as  "  divers  parts  and  parcels  of  her  highness'  earldom 
of  Ulster  that  lay  waste,  or  else  was  inhabited  with  a 
wicked,  barbarous,  and  uncivil  people." 

The  tract  of  country  thus  unceremoniously  bestowed 
upon  an  English  adventurer  was  in  the  possession  of  Sir 
Rowland  Savage,  a  descendant  of  one  of  the  early  An- 
glo-Norman settlers.  Thus  it  was  proved  in  many  cases, 
that  it  was  no  special  enmity  to  the  native  Irish  which 
caused  them  to  be  so  frequently  dispossessed  of  their 
lands,  since  the  English  settlers  who  had  been  any  length 
of  time  in  the  country  were  liable  to  similar  treatment. 
It  was,  in  fact,  the  culmination  of  a  system  of  govern- 
ment as  unwise  as  it  was  unjust,  by  which  the  rights  of 
property  in  Ireland  were  never  respected,  and  as  a  natu- 
ral result  there  could  be  no  national  prosperity. 

The  first  State  Paper  notice  of  this  enterprise  is  in  a 
letter,  dated  February  8, 1572,  from  Captain  Piers  to  the 
lord  deputy,  stating  that  the  country  is  in  an  uproar  "  at 
Mr.  Smith's  coming  over  to  plant  in  the  north."  The 
uproar  ended  by  Mr.  Smith's  "  being  intercepted  and 
slain  by  a  wild  Irishman."  In  fact,  one  of  the  men 
whom  he  had  expelled  from  the  land  on  which  he  had 
lived  for  centuries,  took  the  law  into  his  own  hands,  and 
effectually  enforced  his  claim  to  his  ancestral  property. 


INJUSTICE  OP  THE  PLANTATIONS. 


285 


Before  his  assassination  Smith  had  written  an  account 
of  his  proceedings  to  his  father,  in  which  he  says  that 
"  envy  had  hindered  him  more  than  the  enemy, "  and  that 
he  had  been  ill -handled  by  some  of  his  own  soldiers,  ten 
of  whom  he  had  punished.  He  also  expresses  some  fear 
of  the  native  Irish,  whom  he  had  tried  to  drive  out  of 
their  lands,  as  he  says  they  sometimes  lay  "  wait  to 
intrap  and  murther  the  maister  himself."  Each  planta* 
tion,  which  will  be  recorded  afterwards,  was  carried  out 
on  the  same  plan.  The  object  of  the  Englishman  was  to 
obtain  a  home  and  a  fortune ;  to  do  this  he  was  obliged 
to  drive  the  natives  out  of  their  homes,  and  to  deprive 
them  of  their  wealth,  whether  greater  or  less.  The  ob- 
ject of  the  Irishman  was  to  keep  out  the  intruder;  and, 
if  he  could  not  be  kept  out,  to  get  rid  of  him  by  fair 
means  or  foul. 

It  is  probable  that  the  attempt  of  Smith  was  intended 
by  government  principally  as  an  experiment  to  ascertain 
whether  the  plantation  could  be  carried  out  on  a  larger 
scale.  The  next  attempt  was  made  by  Walter  Deve- 
reux,  earl  of  Essex,  who  received  part  of  the  signories 
of  Clannaboy  and  Ferney,  provided  he  could  expel  the 
"  rebels  "  who  dwelt  there.  Essex  mortgaged  his  estates 
to  the  queen  to  obtain  funds  for  the  enterprise.  He  was 
accompanied  by  Sir  Henry  Kenlis,  lord  Dacres,  and  lord 
Norris's  three  sons. 

Sir  William  FitzGerald,  the  then  lord  deputy,  com- 
plained loudly  of  the  extraordinary  powers  granted  to 
Essex  ;  and  some  show  of  deference  to  his  authority  was 
made  by  requiring  the  earl  to  receive  his  commission  from 
him.  Essex  landed  in  1573,  and  the  usual  career  of 
tyranny  and  treachery  was  enacted.  The  native  chief- 
tains resisted  the  invasion  of  their  territories,  and  endeav- 
ored to  drive  out  the  men  whom  they  could  only  con- 
sider as  robbers.  The  invaders,  when  they  could  not 
conquer,  stooped  to  acts  of  treachery.  Essex  soon  found 
that  the  conquest  of  Ulster  was  not  quite  so  easy  a  task 
as  he  had  anticipated.  Many  of  the  adventurers  who 
had  assumed  his  livery,  and  joined  his  followers,  deserted 
him  ;  and  Brian  O'Neill,  Hugh  O'Neill,  and  Turlough 
O'Neill  rose  up  against  him.  Essex  then  invited  Conn 
O'Donnell  to  his  camp  ;  but,  as  soon  as  he  secured  him, 


286 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


he  seized  his  castle  of  Lifford,  and  sent  the  unfortunate 
chieftain  a  prisoner  to  Dublin. 

In  1574  the  earl  and  Brian  O'Neill  made  peace.  A 
feast  was  prepared  by  the  latter,  to  which  Essex  and  his 
principal  followers  were  invited  ;  but  after  this  entertain- 
ment had  lasted  for  three  days  and  nights,  "  as  they 
were  agreeably  drinking  and  making  merry,  Brian,  his 
brother,  and  his  wife  were  seized  upon  by  the  earl,  and  all 
his  people  put  unsparingly  to  the  sword  —  men,  women, 
youths,  and  maidens  —  in  Brian's  own  presence.  Brian 
was  afterwards  sent  to  Dublin,  together  with  his  wife 
and  brother,  where  they  were  cut  in  quarters.  Such  was 
the  end  of  their  feast.  This  wicked  and  treacherous 
murder  of  the  lord  of  the  race  of  Hugh  Boy  O'Neill,  the 
head  and  the  senior  of  the  race  of  Eoghan,  son  of  Nial 
of  the  Nine  Hostages,  and  of  all  the  Gaels,  a  few  only 
excepted,  was  a  sufficient  cause  of  hatred  and  dispute  to 
the  English  by  the  Irish. " 

Essex  visited  England  in  1575,  and  tried  to  induce  the 
queen  to  give  him  further  assistance  in  his  enterprise. 
On  her  refusal  he  retired  to  Ireland,  and  died  in  Dublin, 
September  22,  1576.  It  was  rumored  that  he  had  died 
of  poison,  and  that  the  poison  was  administered  at  the 
desire  of  the  earl  of  Leicester,  who  soon  after  divorced 
his  own  wife,  and  married  the  widow  of  his  late  rival. 
Essex  complained  bitterly  in  his  letter  to  Sir  Henry  Sid- 
ney, of  the  way  in  which  he  had  been  treated  in  his  pro- 
jected plantation  of  Clonnaboy,  and  protested  against  the 
injustice  which  had  been  done  through  him  on  O'Donnell, 
MacMahon,  and  others,  who  were  always  peaceable  and 
loyal,  but  "  whom  he  had,  on  the  pledged  word  of  the 
queen  undone  with  fair  promises. 77  Probably,  only  for 
his  own  "  undoing,"  he  would  have  had  but  scant  pity 
for  others. 

Sir  Henry  Sidney  returned  to  Ireland  in  1575.  He 
tells  us  himself  how  he  took  on  him  "  the  third  time,  that 
thanklesse  charge  ;  and  so  taking  leave  of  her  majesty, 
sissed  her  sacred  hands,  with  most  gracious  and  com- 
fortable wordes,  departed  from  her  at  Dudley  castell, 
passed  the  seas,  and  arrived  thexiii  of  September,  1575, 
as  nere  the  city  of  Dublin  as  I  could  saufly ;  for  at  that 
time  the  city  was  greevously  infested  with  the  contagion 


SIDNEY  RETURNS  TO  IRELAND. 


287 


of  the  pestilence."  He  then  proceeded  to  Tredagh 
(Drogheda),  where  he  received  the  sword  of  the  then 
deputy.  He  then  marched  northward,  and  attacked  Sor- 
ley  Boy  and  the  Scotch,  who  were  besieging  Carrickfer- 
gus ;  and  after  he  had  conquered  them,  he  received  the 
submission  of  Turlough  O'Neill  and  other  Ulster  chief- 
tains. Turlough's  wife,  the  lady  Agnes  O'Neill,  nee 
McDonnell,  was  aunt  to  the  earl  of  Argyle,  and  appears  . 
to  have  been  very  much  in  favor  with  the  lord  deputy. 

In  the  "  depe  of  wynter"  he  went  to  Cork,  where  he 
remained  from  Christmas  to  Candlemas.  He  mentions 
his  entertainment  at  Barry's  Court  with  evident  zest, 
and  says  11  there  never  was  such  a  Christmas  kept  in  the 
same."  In  February  he  visited  Thomond,  and  subdued 
"  a  wicked  generation,  some  of  whom  he  killed,  and  some 
he  hanged  by  order  of  law,"  —  a  nice  distinction,  which 
could  hardly  have  been  appreciated  by  the  victims. 
The  earl  of  Clanrickarde  caused  "his  two  most  bade  and 
rebellious  sonnes  "  to  make  submission,  "  whom  I  would 
to  God  I  had  then  hanged."  However,  he  kept  them 
close  prisoners,  and  "  had  a  sermon  made  of  them  and 
their  wickedness  in  the  chief  church  of  the  town."  John 
seems  to  have  been  the  principal  delinquent.  Some  time 
after,  when  they  had  been  set  at  liberty,  they  rebelled 
again  ;  and  he  records  the  first "  memorable  act "  which 
one  of  them  had  done,  adding,  "  which  I  am  sure  was 
John." 

Sidney  then  marched  into  the  west,  and  had  an  in- 
terview with  the  famous  Grace  O'Malley,  or  Granuaile, 
which  he  describes  thus:  "There  came  to  me  also  a 
most  famous  femynyne  sea  captain,  called  Granuge 
FMally,  and  offered  her  services  unto  me  wheresoever  I 
would  command  her,  with  three  galleys  and  two  hundred 
fighting  men.  She  brought  with  her  her  husband,  for 
she  was  as  well  by  sea  as  by  land  more  than  master's- 
mate  with  him.  He  was  of  the  nether  Burkes,  and 
called  by  nickname  Richard  in  Iron.  This  was  a  noto- 
rious woman  in  all  the  coasts  of  Ireland.  This  woman 
did  Philip  Sidney  see,  and  speak  with ;  he  can  more  at 
large  inform  you  of  her."  Grana,  or  Grace  O'Malley, 
was  the  daughter  of  a  chieftain  of  the  same  patronymic. 
Her  paternal  clan  were  strong  in  galleys  and  ships. 


4 


288 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


They  owned  a  large  territory  on  the  sea-coast,  besides 
the  islands  of  Arran.  Her  first  husband  was  Donnell 
O'Flaherty.  His  belligerent  propensities  could  scarcely 
have  been  less  than  hers,  for  he  is  termed  Aith  Chogaid, 
or  "  of  the  wars."  Her  second  husband,  Sir  Richard 
Burke,  or  Richard  an  larainn,  is  described  by  the  Four 
Masters  as  a  "  plundering,  warlike,  unjust,  and  rebellious 
•  man."  He  obtained  his  sobriquet  from  the  circumstance 
of  constantly  appearing  in  armor.  It  would  appear  from 
this  account  that  Sidney's  statement  of  the  lady  Grana 
being  "  more  than  master's-mate  with  him,"  must  be 
taken  with  some  limitations,  unless,  indeed,  he  who  ruled 
his  foes  abroad,  failed  to  rule  his  wife  at  home,  which 
is  quite  possible.  One  of  her  castles  still  remains  ;  it 
is  situated  near  the  lake  of  Borrishoole,  in  the  county 
Mayo.  The  ruins  are  very  striking,  and  show  that  it 
was  once  a  fortress  of  considerable  strength. 

In  1577  serious  complications  were  threatened,  in  con- 
sequence of  the  pecuniary  difficulties  of  the  crown.  An 
occasional  subsidy  had  been  granted  hitherto  for  the  sup- 
port of  the  government  and  the  army  ;  an  attempt  was 
now  made  to  convert  this  subsidy  into  a  tax.  On  pre- 
vious occasions  there  had  been  some  show  of  justice, 
however  little  may  have  been  the  reality,  by  permitting 
the  Parliament  to  pass  the  grant ;  a  scheme  was  now 
proposed  to  empower  the  lord  deputy  to  levy  assess- 
ments by  royal  authority,  without  any  reference  to 
Parliament.  For  the  first  time  the  Pale  opposed  the 
government,  and  resisted  the  innovation.  But  their  op- 
position was  speedily  and  effectually  silenced.  The 
deputies  whom  they  sent  to  London  to  remonstrate  were 
committed  to  the  Tower,  and  orders  were  despatched  to 
Ireland  that  all  who  had  signed  the  remonstrance  should 
be  consigned  to  Dublin  castle.  . 

The  earl  of  Desmond  wrote  an  elaborate  and  well- 
digested  appeal  to  lord  Burleigh,  complaining  of  military 
abuses,  and  assuring  his  lordship  that  if  he  had  "  sene 
them  (the  poor  who  were  burdened  with  cess)  he  would 
rather  give  them  charitable  alms  than  burden  them  with 
any  kind  of  chardge."  He  mentions  specially  the  cru- 
elty of  compelling  a  poor  man  to  carry  for  five,  eight,  or 
ten  miles,  on  his  back,  as  many  sheaves  as  the  "horse- 


o'more's  exploits. 


289 


boies"  choose  to  demand  of  him;  and  if  he  goes  not  a 
"  good  pace,  though  the  poor  soule  be  overburdened,  he 
is  all  the  waye  beaten  outt  of  all  measure. " 

Cess  was  also  commanded  to  be  delivered  at  the 
"  queen's  price, "  which  was  considerably  lower  than  the 
market  price.  Even  Sidney  was  supposed  to  be  too 
lenient  in  his  exactions  ;  but  eventually  a  composition 
of  seven  years'  purveyance,  payable  by  instalments,  was 
agreed  upon,  and  the  question  was  set  at  rest.  The 
queen  and  the  English  Council  naturally  feared  to  alien- 
ate the  few  nobles  who  were  friendly  to  them,  as  well  as 
the  inhabitants  of  the  Pale,  who  were  as  a  majority  in 
their  interest. 

The  Pale  was  kept  in  considerable  alarm  at  this  period 
by  the  exploits  of  the  famous  outlaw,  Rory  Oge  O'More. 
In  1577  he  stole  into  Naas  with  his  followers,  and  set 
the  town  on  fire ;  after  this  exploit  he  retired,  without 
taking  any  lives.  He  continued  these  depredations  for 
eighteen  years.  In  1578  he  was  killed  by  one  6f  Mac- 
Gillapatrick's  men,  and  the  Pale  was  relieved  from  a 
most  formidable  source  of  annoyance.  But  the  same 
year  in  which  this  brave  outlaw  terminated  his  career  is 
signalized  by  one  of  the  most  fearful  acts  of  bloodshed 
and  treachery  on  record.  The  heads  of  the  Irish  fami- 
lies of  Offaly  and  Leix,  whose  extirpation  had  long  been 
attempted  unsuccessfully,  were  invited  in  the  queen's 
name,  and  under  the  queen's  protection,  to  attend  a  con- 
ference at  the  great  rath  on  the  hill  of  Mullach-Maistean 
(Mullamast).  As  soon  as  they  had  all  assembled,  they 
were  surrounded  by  a  treble  line  of  the  queen's  garrison 
soldiers,  and  butchered  to  a  man  in  cold  blood. 

This  massacre  was  performed  with  the  knowledge  and 
approval  of  the  deputy,  Sir  Henry  Sidney.  The  soldiers 
who  accomplished  the  bloody  work  were  commanded 
by  captain  Francis  Crosby,  to  whom  the  chief  command 
of  all  the  kerne  in  the  queen's  pay  was  committed. 

Sir  Henry  Sidney  retired  from  office  finally  on  May 
26,  1578.  He  dates  his  Memoir  from  "  Ludlow  Castell, 
with  more  payne  than  harte,  the  1st  of  March,  1582." 
In  this  document  he  complains  bitterly  of  the  neglect 
of  his  services  by  government,  and  bemoans  his  losses 
in  piteous  strains.  He  describes  himself  as  "  fifty  -four 
yeres  of  age,  toothlesse  and  trembling,  being  five  thou- 
13 


290 


COMPENDIUM  OP  IRISH  HISTORY. 


sand  pounds  in  debt."  He  says  he  shall  leave  his  sons 
twenty  thousand  pounds  worse  off'  than  his  father  left 
him.  In  one  place  he  complains  that  he  had  not  as  much 
ground  as  would  "  feede  a  mutton/'  and  he  evidently 
considers  his  services  were  worth  an  ampler  remunera- 
tion ;  for  he  declares  :  "  I  would  to  God  the  country  was 
yet  as  well  as  I  lefte  it  almost  fyve  yeres  agoe."  If  he 
did  not  succeed  in  obtaining  a  large  grant  for  his  ser- 
vices, it  certainly  was  not  for  want  of  asking  it ;  and  if 
he  did  not  succeed  in  pacifying  the  country,  it  was  not 
for  lack  of  summary  measures.  Even  in  his  postscript 
he  mentions  how  he  hanged  a  captain  of  Scots,  and  he 
thinks  "  very  nere  twenty  of  his  men." 

Exaggerated  rumors  were  now  spread  throughout 
Munster  of  the  probability  of  help  from  foreign  sources 
—  a.  d.  1579.  James  FitzMaurice  had  been  actively 
employed  on  the  Continent  in  collecting  troops  and  as- 
sistance for  the  Irish  Catholics.  In  France  his  requests 
were  politely  refused,  for  Henry  III.  wished  to  continue 
on  good  terms  with  Elizabeth.  Philip  II.  of  Spain 
referred  him  to  the  pope.  In  Rome  he  met  with  more 
encouragement ;  and  at  the  solicitation  of  the  Franciscan 
bishop  of  Killaloe;  Cornelius  CTMullrain,  Dr.  Allen,  and 
Dr.  Saunders,  he  obtained  a  Bull,  encouraging  the  Irish 
to  fight  for  the  recovery  of  religious  freedom,  and  for  the 
liberation  of  their  country.  An  expedition  was  fitted  out 
at  the  expense  of  the  Holy  See,  and  maintained  event- 
ually by  Philip  of  Spain.  At  the  earnest  request  of  Fitz- 
Maurice, an  English  adventurer,  named  Stukeley,  was 
appointed  admiral.  The  military  command  was  bestowed 
upon  Hercules  Pisano,  a  soldier  of  some  experience. 

Stukeley  was  reported  to  be  an  illegitimate  son  of 
Henry  VIII.  He  was  a  wild  and  lawless  adventurer, 
and  entirely  unfitted  for  such  a  command.  At  Lisbon 
he  forsook  his  squadron,  and  joined  the  expedition  which 
Sebastian,  the  romantic  king  of  Portugal,  was  preparing 
to  send  to  Morocco.  FitzMaurice  had  travelled  through 
France  to  Spain,  from  whence  he  proceeded  to  Ireland 
with  a  few  troops.  He  had  three  small  vessels  besides 
his  own,  and  on  his  way  he  captured  two  English  ships. 
He  was  accompanied  by  Dr.  Saunders,  as  legate,  the 
bishop  of  Killaloe,  and  Dr.  Allen.  They  were  entirely 
ignorant  of  Stukeley's  desertion  until  their  arrival  in  Ire- 


stukeley's  EXPEDITION  FROM  SPAIN.  291 

land.  The  squadron  reached  Dingle  on  the  17th  of  July, 
157.9.  Eventually  they  landed  at  Smerwick  harbor,  and 
threw  themselves  into  the  Fort  del  Ore,  which  they  for- 
tified as  best  they  could.  If  the  earl  of  Desmond  had 
joined  his  brother  at  once,  the  expedition  might  have 
ended  differently ;  but  he  stood  aloof,  fearing  to  involve 
himself  in  a  struggle,  the  issue  of  which  could  scarcely 
be  doubtful. 

John  Geraldine  allied  himself  with  the  movement  from 
its  commencement.  A  second  expedition  was  fitted  out 
in  Spain,  which  reached  Ireland  on  the  13th  of  Septem- 
ber, 1580.  It  was  commanded  by  Colonel  Sebastian  San 
Jos<$,  who  proved  eventually  so  fearful  a  traitor  to  the 
cause  he  had  volunteered  to  defend.  Father  Mathew  de 
Oviedo,  a  member  of  the  Franciscan  order,  was  the  prin- 
cipal promoter  of  this  undertaking.  lie  was  a  native 
of  Spain,  and  had  been  educated  in  the  college  of  Sala- 
manca, then  famous  for  the  learning  and  piety  of  its  stu- 
dents. The  celebrated  Florence  Conry,  subsequently 
archbishop  of  Tuam,  was  one  of  his  companions ;  and 
when  he  entered  the  Franciscan  novitiate,  he  had  the 
society  of  eleven  brethren  who  were  afterwards  elevated 
to  the  episcopate.  Oviedo  was  the  bearer  of  a  letter 
from  the  Roman  Pontiff,  Gregory  XIII.,  granting  indul- 
gences to  those  who  joined  the  army. 

On  the  18th  of  August,  scarcely  a  month  after  he  had 
landed  in  Ireland,  James  FitzMaurice  was  killed  by  The- 
obald and  Ulick  Burke,  his  own  kinsmen.  Their  father, 
Sir  William  Burke,  was  largely  rewarded  for  his  loyalty 
in  opposing  the  Geraldines  ;  and,  if  Camden  is  to  be  be- 
lieved, he  died  of  joy  in  consequence  of  the  favors  heaped 
upon  him.  The  death  of  FitzMaurice  was  a  fatal  blow 
to  the  cause.  J ohn  Geraldine,  however,  took  the  com- 
mand of  the  force ;  but  the  earl  hastened  to  Kilmallock 
to  exculpate  himself  as  best  he  could  with  the  lord 
deputy.  His  apologies  were  accepted,  and  he  was  per- 
mitted to  go  free  on  leaving  his  only  son,  James,  then 
a  mere  child,. as  hostage  with  Drury.  The  Geraldines 
were  successful  soon  after  in  an  engagement  with  the 
English  ;  and  Drury  died  in  Waterford  at  the  end  of  Sep- 
tember. Ecclesiastical  historians  say  that  he  had  been 
cited  by  the  martyrs  of  Kilmallock  to  meet  them  at 
Christ's  judgment,  and  answer  for  his  cruelties. 


292 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


Sir  Nicholas  Malby  was  left  in  command  of  the  army, 
and  Sir  William  Pelham  was  elected  lord  deputy  in  Dub- 
lin. The  usual  career  of  burning  and  plundering  was 
enacted  —  "the  country  was  left  one  level  plain,  with- 
out corn  or  edifices."  Youghal  was  burned  to  the 
ground,  and  the  mayor  was  hanged  at  his  own  door. 
James  Desmond  was  hanged  and  quartered,  by  St.  Leger 
and  Raleigh,  in  Cork.  Pelham  signalized  himself  by 
cruelties,  and  executed  a  gentleman  who  had  been  blind 
from  his  birth,  and  another  who  was  over  a  hundred 
years  of  age. 

But  the  crowning  tragedy  was  at  hand.  The  expe- 
dition commanded  by  San  Jos^  now  arrived  in  Ireland. 
The  Fort  del  Ore  was  once  more  occupied  and  strength- 
ened ;  the  courage  of  the  insurgents  was  revived.  Mean- 
while lord  Grey  was  marching  southward  with  all  pos- 
sible haste.  He  soon  reached  the  fort,  and,  at  the  same 
time,  admirals  Winter  and  Bingham  prepared  to  attack 
the  place  by  sea.  In  a  few  days  the  courage  of  the  Span- 
ish commander  failed,  and  he  entered  into  treaty  with 
the  lord  deputy.  A  bargain  was  made  that  he  should 
receive  a  large  share  of  the  spoils.  He  had  obtained  a 
personal  interview  in  the  viceroy's  camp,  and  the  only 
persons  for  whom  he  made  conditions  were  the  Span- 
iards who  had  accompanied  him  on  the  expedition.  The 
English  were  admitted  to  the  fortress  on  the  following 
day,  and  a  feast  was  prepared  for  them.  All  arms  and 
ammunition  were  consigned  to  the  care  of  the  English 
soldiers,  and,  this  accomplished,  the  signal  for  massacre 
was  given  ;  and,  according  to  lord  Grey's  official  account, 
six  hundred  men  were  slain  in  cold  blood.  So  univer- 
sal was  the  reprobation  of  this  fearful  tragedy,  that  Sir 
Richard  Bingham  tried  to  make  it  appear  that  it  had  not 
been  premeditated.  Grey's  official  despatch  places  the 
matter  beyond  question,  and  Dr.  Saunders'  letter  sup- 
plies the  details  on  authority  which  cannot  be  disputed. 

Three  persons  who  had  been  treacherously  given  up 
to  the  viceroy  were  spared  for  special  torments  ;  those 
were  —  a  priest  named  Lawrence,  an  Englishman  named 
William  Willick,  and  Oliver  Plunkett.  They  were  offered 
liberty  if  they  would  renounce  the  faith ;  but  on  their 
resolute  refusal,  their  legs  and  arms  were  broken  in  three 
places,  and  after  they  had  been  allowed  to  pass  that  night 


ASSASSINATION  OF  THE  EARL  OF  DESMOND.  293 


and  the  next  day  in  torment,  they  were  hanged  and  quar- 
tered. The  "  State  Papers"  confirm  the  account  given 
by  Saunders  of  these  barbarities. 

Immense  rewards  were  now  offered  for  the  capture  of 
the  Geraldine  leaders,  but  their  faithful  followers  would 
not  be  bribed.  John  was  at  length  seized,  through  the 
intervention  of  a  stranger.  He  was  wounded  in  the 
struggle,  and  died  immediately  after;  but  his  enemies 
wreake4  their  vengeance  on  his  remains,  which  were 
gibbeted  at  Cork.  The  earl  of  Desmond  was  assassin- 
ated on  the  11th  of  November,  1583,  and  the  hopeless 
struggle  terminated  with  his  death.  He  had  been  hunted 
from  place  to  place  like  a  wild  beast,  and,  according  to 
Hooker,  obliged  to  dress  his  meat  in  one  place,  to  eat  it 
in  another,  and  to  sleep  in  a  third.  He  was  surprised, 
on  one  occasion,  while  his  soldiers  were  cooking  their 
midday  meal,  and  five-and-twenty  of  his  followers  were 
put  to  the  sword ;  but  he  escaped,  and  fled  to  Kerry, 
where  he  was  apprehended  and  slain.  His  head  was 
sent  to  Elizabeth,  andimpaled  on  London  bridge,  accord- 
ing to  the  barbarous  practice  of  the  time. 

The  severity  of  lord  Grey's  administration  was  com- 
plained of  so  bitterly,  even  by  English  subjects,  that  he 
was  recalled.  The  administration  was  confided  to  Lof- 
tus,  the  Protestant  archbishop  of  Dublin,  and  Sir  Henry 
Wallope.  In  1584,  Sir  John  Perrot  was  under-deputy, 
and  in  1585  he  held  a  Parliament  in  Dublin,  the  principal 
object  of  which  appears  to  have  been  the  confiscation  of 
Desmond's  estates.  This  was  opposed  by  many  of  the 
members  ;  but  the  crown  was  determined  to  have  them, 
and  the  crown  obtained  them.  Thus  lands  to  the  extent 
of  574,628  acres  were  ready  for  new  adventurers.  The 
most  tempting  offers  were  made  to  induce  Englishmen 
to  plant ;  estates  were  given  for  twopence  an  acre  ;  rent 
was  only  to  commence  after  three  years.  No  Irish 
families  were  to  be  admitted  as  tenants,  though  their 
labors  might  be  accepted  or  compelled.  English  fam- 
ilies were  to  be  substituted  in  certain  proportions  ;  and 
on  these  conditions,  Raleigh,  Hatton,  Norris,  St.  Leger, 
and  others,  obtained  large  grants. 

Meanwhile  Sir  Richard  Bingham  was  opposing  the 
conciliatory  policy  of  the  deputy,  and  hanged  seventy 
persons  atone  session  in  Gal  way,  in  January,  a.  d.  1586. 


294 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


Perrot  interfered  ;  but  the  Burkes,  who  had  been  mad- 
dened by  Bingham's  cruelties,  broke  out  into  open  rebel- 
lion ;  and  he  pointed  to  the  revolt  which  he  had  himself 
occasioned,  as  a  justification  of  his  former  conduct.  The 
Scotch  now  joined  the  Burkes,  but  were  eventually  de- 
feated by  the  president,  the  Irish  annalists  say,  with 
the  loss  of  two  thousand  men.  Another  bloody  assize 
was  held  in  Galway,  where  young  and  old  alike  were 
victims. 

p  Hugh  O'Neill,  the  head  of  the  O'Neill  clan  in  Ulster, 
had  fought  under  the  English  standard  during  the  Ger- 
aldine  war,  but  he  now  began  to  manifest  symptoms  of 
independence  which  alarmed  the  government.  He  had 
taken  his  seat  in  Parliament  as  earl  of  Tyrone,  and  by  a 
judicious  mixture  of  flattery  and  deference  had  obtained 
letters  patent  under  the  great  seal  from  Elizabeth,  secur- 
ing his  titles  and  estates,  with  the  permission  to  keep  up 
a  standing  army  of  six  companies.  O'Neill  had  married 
a  daughter  of  Sir  Hugh  O'Donnell,  and  Sir  Hugh  had 
refused  to  admit  an  English  sheriff  into  his  territory. 
This  increased  the  fears  of  the  lord  deputy,  who  deter- 
mined to  get  some  of  the  northern  chieftains  into  his 
possession  as  a  hostage.  The  treachery  was  accom- 
plished thus  :  a  vessel,  laden  with  Spanish  wine,  was 
sent  to  Donegal  on  pretence  of  traffic.  It  anchored  at 
Rathmullen,  where  it  had  been  ascertained  that  Hugh 
Roe  O'Donnell,  O'Neill's- nephew,  was  staying  with  his 
foster-father,  MacS weeny.  The  wine  was  distributed 
plentifully  to  the  country  people;  and  when  MacSweeny 
sent  to  make  purchases,  the  men  declared  there  was 
none  left  for  sale,  but  if  the  gentlemen  came  on  board, 
they  should  have  what  was  left.  Hugh  and  his  compan- 
ions easily  fell  into  the  snare.  They  were  hospitably 
entertained,  but  their  arms  were  carefully  removed,  the 
hatches  were  shut  down,  the  cable  cut,  and  the  ship 
stood  off  to  sea.  The  guests  who  were  not  wanted  were 
put  ashore,  but  the  unfortunate  youth  was  taken  to  Dub- 
lin, and  confined  in  the  castle. 

~"  In  1588  Sir  John  Perrot  was  succeeded  by  Sir  William 
Fitz  William,  a  nobleman  of  the  most  opposite  character 
and  disposition.  Perrot  was  generally  regretted  by  the 
native  Irish,  as  he  was  considered  one  of  the  most  hu- 
mane of  the  lord  deputies.    The  wreck  of  the  Spanish 


CRUELTY  OP  SIR  WILLIAM  FITZWILLIAM.  295 


Armada  occurred  during  this  year,  and  was  made  at  once 
an  excuse  for  increased  severity  towards  the  Catholics, 
and  for  acts  of  grievous  injustice.  Even  loyal  persons 
were  accused  of  harboring  the  shipwrecked  men,  as  it 
was  supposed  they  might  have  obtained  some  treasure 
in  return  for  their  hospitality.  Fitz William,  according 
to  Ware,  wished  to  "  finger  some  of  it  himself,"  and 
invaded  the  territories  of  several  Irish  chieftains.  A 
complete  history  of  Fitz  William's  acts  of  injustice,  and 
the  consummate  cruelty  with  which  they  were  perpe- 
trated, would  be  so  painful  to  relate,  that  they  can 
scarcely  be  recorded  in  detail.  He  farmed  out  the  -*| 
country  to  the  highest  bidders,  who  practised  every 
possible  extortion  on  the  unfortunate  natives.  The  fa- 
vorite method  of  compelling  them  to  yield  up  their  lands 
without  resistance,  was  to  fry  the  soles  of  their  feet  in 
boiling  brimstone  and  grease.  When  torture  did  not 
succeed,  some  unjust  accusation  was  brought  forward, 
and  they  were  hanged.  A  tract  preserved  in  Trinity 
College,  Dublin,  gives  details  of  these  atrocities,  from 
which  I  shall  only  select  one  instance.  A  landlord  was 
anxious  to  obtain  the  property  of  one  of  his  tenants,  an 
Irishman,  who  had  lived  "  peaceably  and  quietly,  as  a 
good  subject,"  for  many  years.  He  agreed  with  the 
sheriff  to  divide  the  spoil  with  him,  if  he  would  assist  in 
the  plot.  The  man  and  his  servant  were  seized ;  the 
latter  was  hanged,  and  the  former  was  sent  to  Dublin 
castle,  to  be  imprisoned  on  some  pretence.  The  gentle- 
man and  the  sheriff  at  once  seized  the  tenant's  property, 
and  turned  his  wife  and  children  out  to  beg.  After  a 
short  time,  "  they,  by  their  credit  and  countenance,  be- 
ing both  English  gentlemen,  informed  the  lord  deputy 
so  hardly  of  him,  as  that,  without  indictment  or  trial, 
they  executed  him." 

In  1590,  Hugh  of  the  Fetters,  an  illegitimate  son  of  | 
the  famous  Shane  O'Neill,  was  hanged  by  the  earl  of 
Tyrone,  for  having  made  false  charges  against  him  to  the 
lord  deputy.  This  exercise  of  authority  excited  consid- 
erable fear,  and  the  earl  was  obliged  to  clear  himself  of 
blame  before  Elizabeth.  After  a  brief  detention  in  Lon- 
don, he  was  permitted  to  return  to  Ireland,  but  not  until, 
he  had  signed  certain  articles  in  the  English  interest, 
which  he  observed  precisely  as  long  as  it  suited  his  con- 


296 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


venience.  About  this  time  his  nephew,  Hugh  O'Don- 
nell, made  an  ineffectual  attempt  to  escape  from  Dublin 
castle,  but  he  was  recaptured  and  more  closely  guarded. 
This  again  attracted  the  attention  of  government  to  the 
f  family  ;  but  a  more  important  event  was  about  to  follow, 
O'Neill's  wife  was  dead,  and  the  chieftain  was  captivated 
by  the  beauty  of  Sir  Henry  Bagnal's  sister.  How  they 
contrived  to  meet  and  to  plight  their  vows  is  not  known, 
though  State  Papers  have  sometimes  revealed  as  roman- 
tic particulars.  It  has  been  discovered,  however,  from 
that  invaluable  source  of  information,  that  Sir  Henry  was 
furious,  and  cursed  himself  and  his  fate  that  his  "  bloude, 
which  had  so  often  been  spilled  in  reppressinge  this  re- 
bellious race,  should  now  be  mingled  with  so  traitorous 
a  stocke  and  kindred."  He  removed  the  lady  from 
Newry,  to  the  house  of  her  sister,  the  wife  of  Sir  Pat- 
rick Barnwell,  near  Dublin.  The  earl  followed  Miss  Bag- 
nal  thither.  Her  brother-in-law  received  him  courteously  ; 
and  while  the  O'Neill  engaged  the  family  in  conversa- 
tion, a  confidential  friend  rode  off  with  the  lady,  who 
^was  married  to  O'Neill  immediately  after. 

Hugh  Roe  O'Donnell  made  another  attempt  to  escape 
at  Christmas,  a.  d.  1592,  and  succeeded.  As  soon  as  he 
had  recovered  from  the  hardships  which  he  endured  dur- 
ing his  flight,  he  commenced  incursions  on  the  territo- 
ries occupied  by  the  English  :  but  as  the  earl  of  Tyrone 
was  anxious  to  prevent  a  premature  rebellion,  he  induced 
the  lord  deputy  to  meet  him  at  Dundalk,  where  he  ob- 
tained a  full  pardon  for  his  escape  from  Dublin  castle, 
and  a  temporary  pacification  was  arranged. 

In  1593  he  collected  another  army  ;  Turlough  Luin- 
each  resigned  his  chieftaincy  to  the  earl  of  Tyrone  ;  and 
Ulster  became  wholly  the  possession  of  its  old  chieftains 
—  the  O'Neill  and  O'Donnell.  An  open  rebellion  broke 
out  soon  after,  in  consequence  of  the  exactions  of  two 
English  officers  on  the  territories  of  Oge  O'Rourke  and 
Maguire.  Several  trifling  engagements  took  place.  The 
earl  of  Tyrone  was  placed  in  a  difficult  position.  He  was 
obliged  to  join  the  English  side,  while  his  inclinations 
were  with  his  own  people.  Meanwhile  O'Neill  played 
fast  and  loose,  and  did  his  utmost  to  keep  up  appearances 
with  the  government,  offering  even  to  prove  his  loyalty 


PERSECUTION  OF  THE  CLERGY. 


297 


by  single  combat  with  Bagnal,  who  declined  the  encoun- 
ter. 

While  these  events  were  happening  the  indignation  of 
the  Irish  was  constantly  excited  by  cruel  executions 
of  Catholic  priests.  Some  were  hung,  some  were  cruelly 
flogged,  and  in  several  places  Franciscan  friars  were  tied 
together  by  their  cords  and  flung  down  steep  precipices 
into  the  sea  before  the  exasperated  and  weeping  multi- 
tude. 

One  of  the  most  eminent  of  the  clergy  who  suffered  at  "*! 
this  period  was  archbishop  O'Hurley,  a  man  of  more  than 
ordinary  learning,  and  distinguished  for  his  refined  and 
cultivated  tastes.  He  was  brought  before  the  Protestant 
archbishop  Loftus  and  the  deputy  Wallope.  As  he  stead- 
fastly refused  to  renounce  his  faith,  he  was  sentenced  to 
torture  and  death.  He  was  chained  to  a  tree,  and  his 
feet  and  legs  were  encased  in  long  boots  filled  with  oil, 
turpentine,  and  pitch,  and  then  stretched  upon  an  iron 
grate,  under  which  a  slow  fire  was  kindled.  This  cru- 
elty was  continued  until  the  flesh  was  burned  to  the  bone. 
He  was  then  cast  into  prison  until  morning,  and  at  early 
dawn  on  Friday,  May  6,  1584,  he  was  carried  out  to  the 
place  now  called  Stephen's  Green,  where  what  remained 
of  human  life  was  quickly  extinguished,  first  by  putting  * 
him  again  to  torture,  and  then  by  hanging. 

As  the  news  of  this  barbarity  spread  through  the  coun- 
try it  excited  the  people  more  and  more.  The  govern- 
ment was  placed  in  a  difficult  position.  The  prestige 
of  O'Neill  and  O'Donnell  was  becoming  every  day 
greater.  On  the  7th  of  June,  1598,  the  earl  laid  siege 
to  the  fort  of  the  Blackwater,  then  commanded  by  cap- 
tain Williams,  and  strongly  fortified.  Reinforcements 
were  sent  to  the  besieged  from  England,  but  they  were 
attacked  en  route  by  the  Irish,  and  lost  four  hundred 
men  at  Dungannon.  At  last  the  earl  of  Ormonde  and 
Bagnal  took  the  field.  The  former  marched  against  the 
Leinster  insurgents,  the  latter  against  his  old  enemy 
and  brother-in-law.  An  engagement  took  place -at  the 
Yellow  Ford,  near  Armagh,  where  Bagnal  was  shot,  and 
O'Neill  obtained  a  signal  victory. 


298 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

A.D.1599TO  A.  D.  1643, 

Contemporary  Events  :  —Discovery  of  the  Gunpowder  Plot— Acces- 
sion of  Charles  I.  of  England— Execution  of  the  Earl  of  Strafford— 
Commencement  of  the  Civil  War  in  England, 

Essex  was  now  despatched  in  haste  to  Ireland  with 
twenty  thousand  foot  and  two  thousand  horse, —  the  best- 
equipped  force  ever  sent  into  the  country.  He  at  once 
issued  a  proclamation,  offering  pardon  to  all  the  insur- 
gents who  should  submit,  and  he  despatched  reinforce- 
ments to  the  northern  garrison  towns,  and  to  Wicklow 
and  Naas.  He  then  marched  southward,  not  without 
encountering  a  sharp  defeat  from  Rory  CTMore.  He 
attacked  the  Geraldines,  without  much  success,  in  Fer- 
moy  and  Lismore,  having  on  the  whole  lost  more  than 
he  had  accomplished  by  the  expedition.  An  engage- 
ment took  place  between  O'Donnell  and  Sir  Conyers 
Clifford,  in  the  pass  of  Balloghboy,  on  the  16th  of 
August,  in  which  Conyers  was  killed,  and  his  army  de- 
feated. His  body  was  recognized  by  the  Irish,  towards 
whom  he  had  always  acted  honorably,  and  they  interred 
the  remains  of  their  brave  and  noble  enemy  with  the 
respect  which  was  justly  due  to  him. 

Essex  wrote  to  England  for  more  troops,  and  his  ene- 
mies were  not  slow  to  represent  his  incapacity,  and  to 
demand  his  recall :  but  he  had  not  yet  lost  grace  with 
his  royal  mistress,  and  his  request  was  granted.  The 
viceroy  now  marched  into  the  northern  provinces.  When 
he  arrived  at  the  Lagan,  where  it  bounds  Louth  and  Mon- 
aghan,  O'Neill  appeared  on  the  opposite  hill  with  his 
army,  and  sent  the  O'Hagan,  his  faithful  friend  and 
attendant,  to  demand  a  conference.  The  interview  took 
place  on  the  following  day ;  and  O'Neill,  with  chival- 
rous courtesy,  dashed  into  the  river  on  his  charger,  and 


SIEGE  OF  KINSALE. 


299 


there  conversed  with  the  English  earl,  while  he  remained 
on  the  opposite  bank.  It  was  supposed  that  the  Irish 
chieftain  had  made  a  favorable  impression  on  Essex,  and 
that  he  was  disposed  to  conciliate  the  Catholics.  He 
was  obliged  to  go  to  England  to  clear  himself  of  these 
charges  ;  and  his  subsequent  arrest  and  execution  would 
have  excited  more  sympathy,  had  he  been  as  amiable  in 
his  domestic  relations  as  he  is  said  to  have  been  in  his 
public  life. 

Ulster  enjoyed  a  brief  period  of  rest  under  the  govern- 
ment of  its  native  princes.  In  1600  O'Neill  proceeded 
southward,  laying  waste  the  lands  of  the  English  settlers, 
but  promoting  the  restoration  of  churches  and  abbeys, 
and  assisting  the  clergy  and  the  native  Irish  in  every 
possible  way.  Having  lost  Hugh  Maguire,  one  of  his 
best  warriors,  in  an  accidental  engagement  with  St. 
Leger,  the  president  of  Munster,  he  determined  to  return 
to  Ulster.  A  new  viceroy  had  just  arrived  in  Ireland, 
and  he  attempted  to  cut  off  his  retreat  ineffectually. 

O'Neill  had  now  obtained  a  position  of  considerable 
importance,  and  one  which  he  appears  to  have  used  inva- 
riably for  the  general  good.  But  peace  could  not  be 
expected  to  continue  long  when  such  powerful  interests 
were  in  opposition. 

Attempts  were  made  to  assassinate  O'Neill  in  1601. 
Two  thousand  pounds  was  offered  to  any  one  who  would 
capture  him  alive  ;  one  thousand  pounds  was  offered  for 
his  head ;  but  none  of  his  people  could  be  found  to  play 
the  traitor  even  for  so  high  a  stake.  The  "  Sugane  earl 79 
was  treacherously  captured  about  the  end  of  August, 
and  was  sent  to  London  in  chains,  with  Florence  Mac- 
Carthy.  But  the  long-expected  aid  from  Spain  had  at 
last  arrived.  The  fleet  conveyed  a  force  of  three  thou- 
sand infantry,  and  entered  the  harbor  of  Kinsale  on  Sep- 
tember 23,  under  the  command  of  Don  Juan  d'Aquila. 
It  would  appear  as  if  Spanish  expeditions  were  not  des- 
tined to  succeed  on  Irish  soil,  for  only  part  of  the  expe- 
dition arrived  safely,  and  they  had  the  misfortune  to  land 
in  the  worst  situation,  and  to  arrive  after  the  war  had 
ceased.  The  northern  chieftains  set  out  at  once  to  meet 
their  allies  when  informed  of  their  arrival ;  and  O'Don- 
nell,  with  characteristic  impetuosity,  was  the  first  on  the 
road.    Carew  attempted  to  intercept  him,  but  despaired 


300 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


of  coming  up  with  "  so  swift-footed  a  general/'  and  left 
him  to  pursue  his  way  unmolested. 

The  lord  deputy  was  besieging  Kinsale,  and  Carew 
joined  him  there.  The  siege  was  continued  through  the 
month  of  November,  during  which  time  fresh  reinforce- 
ments came  from  Spain  ;  and  on  December  21,  O'Neill 
arrived  with  all  his  force.  Unfortunately,  the  Spanish 
general  had  become  thoroughly  disgusted  with  the  en- 
terprise ;  and  although  the  position  of  the  English  was 
such  that  the  lord  deputy  had  serious  thoughts  of  raising 
the  siege,  he  insisted  on  decisive  measures  ;  and  O'Neill 
was  obliged  to  surrender  his  opinion,  which  was  entirely 
against  this  line  of  action.  A  sortie  was  agreed  upon 
for  a  certain  night ;  but  a  youth  in  the  Irish  camp,  who 
had  been  in  the  president's  service  formerly,  warned  him 
of  the  intended  attack.  This  was  sufficient  in  itself  to 
cause  the  disaster  which  ensued.  But  there  were  other 
misfortunes.  O'Neill  and  O'Donnell  lost  their  way  ;  and 
when  they  reached  the  English  camp  at  dawn,  found  the 
soldiers  under  arms,  and  prepared  for  an  attack.  Their 
cavalry  at  once  charged,  and  the  new  comers  in  vain 
struggled  to  maintain  their  ground,  and  a  retreat  which 
they  attempted  was  turned  into  a  total  rout. 

A  thousand  Irish  were  slain,  and  the  prisoners  were 
hanged  without  mercy.  The  loss  on  the  English  side 
was  but  trifling.  It  was  a  fatal  blow  to  the  Irish  cause. 
Heavy  were  the  hearts  and  bitter  the  thoughts  of  the 
brave  chieftains  on  that  sad  night.  O'Neill  no  longer 
hoped  for  the  deliverance  of  his  country;  but  the  more 
sanguine  O'Donnell  proposed  to  proceed  at  once  to  Spain, 
to  explain  their  position  to  king  Philip.  He  left  Ireland 
in  a  Spanish  vessel  three  clays  after  the  battle  — if  battle 
it  can  be  called ;  and  O'Neill  marched  rapidly  back  to 
Ulster  with  Rory  O'Donnell,  to  whom  Hugh  Roe  had 
delegated  the  chieftaincy  of  Tir-Connell. 

D'Aquila  submitted  to  Mountjoy,  it  is  said  bribed  by 
English  gold,  as  he  was  placed  under  arrest  on  his  return 
to  Spain.  Meanwhile,  O'Sullivan  Beare  escaped  to  his 
famous  castle  of  Dunboy,  where  he  was  at  once  besieged 
by  Carew.  This  fortress  was  supposed  to  be  impregna- 
ble, but  the  garrison  consisted  only  of  one  hundred  and 
forty-three  fighting  men  with  a  few  pieces  of  cannon. 
The  besieging  army  was  three  thousand  strong,  and  they 


o'neill  and  o'donnell. 


301 


were  well  supplied  with  artillery.  When  the  castle  was 
nearly  battered  down  the  garrison  offered  to  submit  if 
allowed  to  depart  with  their  arms,  but  Carew'sonly  reply 
was  to  hang  their  messenger.  They  then  retreated  to  a 
cellar,  where  one  of  them  attempted  to  blow  up  the  place 
just  as  the  English  soldiers  had  succeeded  in  forcing 
an  entrance.  Fifty-eight  of  the  unfortunate  men  were 
hanged  on  the  spot,  and  the  rest  were  executed  soon 
after.  One  of  the  prisoners,  Father  Collins,  was  ta*ken 
to  Youghal,  his  native  town,  that  he  might  suffer  there — 
a  most  unwise  proceeding,  for  his  fate  was  sure  to  ex- 
cite double  sympathy,  and  hence  to  promote  double  dis- 
affection, in  the  place  where  he  was  personally  known. 

War  was  now  over  for  a  time.  The  fall  of  Dunboy  was 
a  fatal  blow  to  the  Irish  cause.  O'Donnell  died  of  grief 
in  Spain,  and  O'Neill  submitted  to  the  viceroy  a  few 
days  after  the  death  of  queen  Elizabeth,  which  event  was 
carefully  concealed  from  him  until  he  had  made  terms 
with  Sir  Garret  More. 

O'Neill  and  O'Donnell  may  be  justly  considered  the 
last  of  the  independent  native  chieftains.  When  the 
latter  died  in  exile,  and  the  former  accepted  the  coronet 
of  an  English  earl,  the  glories  of  the  olden  days  of 
princes,  who  held  almost  regal  power,  had  passed  away 
for  ever.  The  proud  title  of  "  The  O'Neill ;?  became 
extinct ;  his  country  was  made  shire  ground  ;  he  accepted 
patents,  and  held  his  broad  acres'*  in  fee ; "  sheriffs 
were  admitted  ;  judges  made  circuits  ;  king's  commis- 
sioners took  careful  note  of  place,  person,  and  property  ; 
and  such  a  system  of  espionage  was  established  that 
Davies  boasts,  "  it  was  not  only  known  how  people  lived, 
and  what  they  do,  but  it  is  foreseen  what  they  purpose 
and  intend  to  do ;  which  latter  species  of  clairvoyance 
seems  to  have  been  largely  practised  by  those  who  were 
waiting  until  all  suspicions  were  lulled  to  rest,  that  they 
might  seize  on  the  property,  and  imprison  the  persons 
of  those  whose  estates  they  coveted. 

When  James  the  First  of  England  and  Sixth  of  Scot- 
land ascended  the  throne  of  England,  the  Irish  Catholics, 
always  sanguine,  hoped  for  a  time  of  peace,  if  not  for 
special  compensations  for  past  sufferings.  But  they 
were  soon  undeceived.  King  James  drank  "  to  the 
eternal  damnation  of  the  Papists  ;;  solemnly  at  a  pub- 


302 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


lie  dinner,  no  doubt  to  convince  the  sceptical  of  his 
Protestantism ;  and  he  divided  his  time  very  equally 
between  persecuting  the  Puritans  and  the  Catholics, 
when  not  occupied  with  his  pleasures  or  quarrelling  with 
his  Parliament.  The  Puritans,  however,  had  the  advan- 
tage ;  popular  opinion  in  England  was  on  their  side  ; 
they  were  sufficiently  wealthy  to  emigrate  if  they  pleased : 
while  the  Catholics  were  not  only  unpopular,  but  hated, 
and  utterly  impoverished  by  repeated  fines  and  exac- 
tions. 

James's  conduct  on  his  accession  was  sufficiently  plain. 
He  was  proclaimed  in  Dublin  on  the  28th  of  September, 
1605.  A  part  of  his  proclamation  ran  thus  :  "  We  here- 
by make  known  to  our  subjects  in  Ireland,  that  no  toler- 
ation shall  ever  be  granted  by  us.  This  we  do  for  the 
purpose  of  cutting  off  all  hope  that  any  other  religion 
shall  be  allowed  save  that  which  is  consonant  to  the 
laws  and  statutes  of  this  realm. "  The  penal  statutes 
were  renewed,  and  enforced  with  increased  severity. 
Several  members  of  the  corporation  and  some  of  the  prin- 
cipal citizens  of  Dublin  were  sent  to  prison  ;  similar 
outrages  on  religious  liberty  were  perpetrated  at  Water- 
ford,  Ross,  and  Limerick.  In  some  cases  these  gentle- 
men were  only  asked  to  attend  the  Protestant  church 
once,  but  they  nobly  refused  to  act  against  their  con- 
science even  once,  though  it  should  procure  them  free- 
dom from  imprisonment,  or  even  from  death.  The  vicar- 
apostolic  of  Waterford  and  Lismore  wrote  a  detailed 
account  of  the  sufferings  of  the  Irish  nation  for  their  faith 
at  this  period  to  cardinal  Baronius.  His  letter  is  dated 
"  Waterford,  1st  of  May,  1606."  He  says  :  "  There  is 
scarcely  a  spot  where  Catholics  can  find  a  safe  retreat. 
The  impious  soldiery,  by  day  and  night,  pursue  the 
defenceless  priests,  and  mercilessly  persecute  them.  Up 
to  the  present  they  have  only  succeeded  in  seizing  three  : 
one  is  detained  in  Dublin  prison,  another  in  Cork,  and 
the  third,  in  my  opinion,  is  the  happiest  of  all,  triumph- 
ing in  heaven  with  Christ  our  Lord  ;  for  in  the  excess  of 
the  fury  of  the  soldiery,  without  any  further  trial  or 
accusation,  having  expressed  himself  to  be  a  priest,  he 
was  hanged  upon  the  spot." 

He  then  narrates  the  sufferings  of  the  Catholic  laity, 
many  of  whom  he  says  are  reduced  to  11  extreme  poverty 


CONSPIRACY  AGAINST  THE  IRISH  CHIEFTAINS.  303 

and  misery;"  "if  they  have  any  property,  they  are 
doubly  persecuted  by  the  avaricious  courtiers." 

In  the  month  of  May,  1603,  O'Neill  visited  London, 
accompanied  by  lord  Mountjoy  and  Rory  O'Donnell. 
They  were  graciously  received  ;  and  it  was  on  this  occa- 
sion that  O'Neill  renounced  his  ancient  name  for  his  new 
titles.  O'Donnell  was  made  earl  of  Tyrconnel  at  the 
same  time.  The  first  sheriffs  appointed  for  Ulster  were 
Sir  Edward  Pelham  and  Sir  John  Davies.  The  latter 
has  left  it  on  record,  as  his  deliberate  opinion,  after  many 
years'  experience,  "  that  there  is  no  nation  of  people 
under  the  sun  that  doth  love  equal  and  indifferent  jus- 
tice better  than  the  Irish,  or  will  rest  better  satisfied 
with  the  execution  thereof,  although  it  be  against  them- 
selves,  so  that  they  may  have  the  protection  and  benefits  of 
the  law,  when,  upon  just  cause,  they  do  desire  it." 

A  plot  was  now  got  up  to  entrap  O'Neill  and  O'Don- 
nell.  This  conspiracy  is  thus  related  by  a  learned  English 
divine,  Dr.  Anderson,  in  his  "  Royal  Genealogies," 
printed  in  London,  1736  :  "  Artful  Cecil  employed  one 
St.  Lawrence  to  entrap  the  earls  of  Tyrone  and  Tyrcon- 
nell,  the  lord  Delvin,  and  other  Irish  chiefs,  into  a  sham 
plot,  which  had  no  evidence  but  his." 

The  next  movement  was  to  drop  an  anonymous  letter 
at  the  door  of  the  council-chamber,  mentioning  a  design 
as  then  in  contemplation,  for  seizing  the  castle  of  Dub-* 
lin,  and  murdering  the  lord  deputy.  No  names  were 
mentioned,  but  it  was  publicly  stated  that  government 
had  information  in  their  possession  which  fixed  the  guilt 
of  the  conspiracy  on  the  earl  of  Tyrone.  His  flight,  which 
took  place  immediately  after,  was  naturally  considered 
as  an  acknowledgment  of  his  guilt.  It  is  more  probable 
that  the  expatriation  was  prompted  by  his  despair. 

The  Four  Masters  give  a  touching  account  of  their 
departure,  and  exclaim  :  "  Woe  to  the  heart  that  medi- 
tated, woe  to  the  mind  that  conceived,  woe  to  the  coun- 
cil that  decided  on  the  project  of  their  setting  out  on  the 
voyage  !  "  The  exiles  left  Rathmullen  on  September 
14,  1607.  O'Neill  had  been  with  the  lord  deputy 
shortly  before  ;  and  one  cannot  but  suppose  that  he  had 
then  obtained  some  surmise  of  premeditated  treachery, 
for  he  arranged  his  flight  secretly  and  swiftly,  pretending 
that  he  was  about  to  visit  London.    O'Neill  was  accom- 


304 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


parried  by  his  countess,  his  three  sons,  O'Donnell,  and 
other  relatives.  They  first  sailed  to  Normandy,  where 
an  attempt  was  made  by  the  English  government  to 
arrest  them,  but  Henry  IV.  would  not  give  them  up.  In 
Rome  they  were  received  as  confessors  exiled  for  the 
faith,  and  were  liberally  supported  by  the  pope  and  the 
king  of  Spain.  They  all  died  in  a  few  years  after  their 
arrival,  and  their  ashes  rest  in  the  Franciscan  church  of 
St.  Peter-in-Montorio. 

The  Red  Hand  of  the  O'Neills  had  hitherto  been  a  pow- 
erful protection  to  Ulster.  The  attempts  il  to  plant  " 
there  had  turned  out  failures ;  but  now  that  the  chiefs 
were  removed,  the  people  became  an  easy  prey. 
O'Dogherty,  chief  of  Innishowen,  was  insulted  by  Sir 
George  Paulett,  in  a  manner  which  no  gentleman  could 
be  expected  to  bear  without  calling  his  insulter  to  ac- 
count ;  and  the  young  chieftain  took  fearful  vengeance 
for  the  rude  blow  which  he  had  received  from  the  Eng- 
lish sheriff.  He  got  into  Culmore  fort  at  night  by  strat- 
agem, and  then  marched  to  Derry,  killed  Paulett,  mas- 
sacred the  garrison,  and  burned  the  town.  Some  other 
chieftains  joined  him,  and  kept  up  the  war  until  July, 
when  O'Dogherty  was  killed,  and  his  companions-in- 
arms imprisoned.  Sir  Arthur  Chichester  received  his 
property  in  return  for  his  suggestions  for  the  plantation 
•  of  Ulster,  of  which  we  must  now  make  brief  mention. 

There  can  be  little  doubt,  from  Sir  Henry  Docwra's 
own  account,  that  O'Dogherty  was  purposely  insulted, 
and  goaded  into  rebellion.  He  was  the  last  obstacle  to 
the  grand  scheme,  and  he  was  disposed  of.  Ulster  was 
now  at  the  mercy  of  those  who  chose  to  accept  grants 
of  land ;  and  the  grants  were  made  to  the  highest  bid- 
ders, or  to  those  who  had  paid  for  the  favor  by  previous 
services.  Sir  Arthur  Chichester  evidently  considered  that 
he  belonged  to  the  latter  class,  for  we  find  him  writing 
at  considerable  length  to  the  earl  of  Northampton,  then  a 
ruling  member  of  king  James's  cabinet,  to  request  that 
he  may  be  appointed  president  of  Ulster.  He  commences 
his  epistle  by  stating  how  deeply  he  is  indebted  to  his 
lordship  for  his  comfortable  and  kind  letters,  and  the 
praise  he  has  given  him  in  public  and  private.  He  then 
bestows  an  abundant  meed  of  commendation  upon  his  jus- 
tice in  return.    He  next  explains  his  hopes  and  desires. 


Chichester's  parliament. 


305 


He  declares  that  he  wishes  for  the  presidency  of  Ulster, 
"  more  for  the  service  he  might  there  do  his  majesty,  than 
for  the  profit  he  expects, "  a  statement  which  the  earl  no 
doubt  read  exactly  as  it  was  intended  ;  and  he  says  that 
he  only  mentions  his  case  because  "  charitie  beginnes 
with  myeselfe,"  which,  indeed,  appears  to  have  been  the 
view  of  that  virtue  generally  taken  by  all  planters  and 
adventurers.  He  concludes  with  delicately  informing 
his  correspondent,  that  if  he  can  advance  any  friend  of 
his  in  any  way  he  will  be  most  happy  to  do  so.  This 
letter  is  dated  from  the  Castle  of  Dublin,  7th  of  February, 
160T."  The  date  should  read,  according  to  the  change 
of  style,  1608.  The  lord  deputy  knew  well  what  he  was 
asking  for.  During  the  summer  of  the  preceding  year, 
he  had  made  a  careful  journey  through  Ulster,  with  Sir 
John  Davies  ;  and  Carte  has  well  observed,  "  that  nobody 
knew  the  territories  better  to  be  planted  ;  "  and  he  might 
have  added,  that  few  persons  had  a  clearer  eye  to  their 
own  advantage  in  the  arrangements  he  made. 

The  plan  of  the  plantation  was  agreed  upon  in  1609. 
It  was  the  old  plan  which  had  been  attempted  before, 
though  with  less  show  of  legal  arrangement,  but  with 
quite  the  same  proportion  of  legal  iniquity.  The  sim- 
ple object  was  to  expel  the  natives,  and  to  extirpate 
the  Catholic  religion.  The  six  counties  to  be  planted 
were  Tyrone,  Derry,  Donegal,  Armagh,  Fermanagh,  and 
Cavan.  These  were  parcelled  out  into  portions  varying 
from  two  thousand  to  four  thousand  acres,  and  the 
planters  were  obliged  to  build  bawns  and  castles. 

Chichester  now  proposed  to  call  a  Parliament.  The 
plantation  of  Ulster  had  removed  some  difficulties  in  the 
way  of  its  accomplishment.  The  Protestant  university 
of  Dublin  had  obtained  three  thousand  acres  there,  and 
four  hundred  thousand  acres  of  tillage  land  had  been  par- 
titioned out  between  English  and  Scotch  proprietors. 
It  was  expressly  stipulated  that  their  tenants  should  be 
English  or  Scotch  and  Protestants  ;  the  Catholic  owners 
of  the  land  were,  in  some  cases,  as  a  special  favor,  per- 
mitted to  remain,  if  they  took  the  oath  of  supremacy,  if 
they  worked  well  for  their  masters,  and  if  they  paid 
double  the  rent  fixed  for  the  others.  Sixty  thousand 
acres  in  Dublin  and  Waterford,  and  three  hundred  and 
eighty-five  thousand  acres  in  Westnieath,  Longford, 


306 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


King's  County,  Queen's  County,  and  Leitrim,  had  been 
portioned  out  in  a  similar  manner.  A  Presbyterian  min- 
ister, whose  father  was  one  of  the  planters,  thus  describes 
the  men  who  came  to  establish  English  rule,  and  root 
out  popery  :  "  From  Scotland  came  many,  and  from  Eng- 
land not  a  few ;  yet  all  of  them  generally  the  scum  of 
both  nations,  who,  from  debt,  or  making  and  fleeing  from 
justice,  or  seeking  shelter,  came  hither,  hoping  to  be 
without  fear  of  man's  justice,  in  a  land  where  there  was 
nothing  or  but  little  as  yet  of  the  fear  of  God.  .  .  Most 
of  the  people  were  all  void  of  godliness.  ...  On  all 
hands  atheism  increased,  and  disregard  of  God  ;  iniquity 
abounds,  with  contention,  fighting,  murder,  and  adul- 
tery." 

It  was  with  such  persons  as  these  that  the  lower  house 
was  filled.  The  upper  house  was  composed  of  the  Prot- 
estant bishops  and  English  aristocracy,  who  were,  of 
course,  unanimous  in  their  views.  Chichester  obtained 
ample  powers  to  arrange  the  lower  house.  Forty  new 
boroughs  were  formed,  many  of  them  consisting  merely 
of  a  few  scattered  houses  ;  some  of  them  were  not  incor- 
porated until  after  the  writs  were  issued.  The  Catho- 
lics were  taken  by  surprise,  as  no  notice  had  been  given 
either  of  the  Parliament  or  the  laws  intended  to  be  en- 
acted. Six  Catholic  lords  of  the  Pale  remonstrated  with 
the  king,  but  he  treated  them  with  the  utmost  contempt. 
The  house  assembled ;  there  was  a  struggle  for  the 
speaker's  chair.  The  Catholic  party  proposed  Sir  John 
Everard,  who  had  just  resigned  his  position  as  justice  of 
the  King's  Bench  sooner  than  take  the  oath  of  suprem- 
acy ;  the  court  party  insisted  on  having  Sir  John  Davies. 
The  Catholics  protested,  and  sent  a  deputation  to  James, 
who  first  lectured  them  to  show  his  learning,  and  then 
imprisoned  them  to  show  his  power.  Some  kind  of  com- 
promise was  eventually  effected.  A  severe  penal  law 
was  withdrawn  ;  a  large  subsidy  was  voted.  In  truth, 
the  Irish  party  acted  boldly,  considering  their  peculiar 
circumstances,  for  one  and  all  refused  to  enter  the  old 
cathedral,  which  their  forefathers  had  erected,  when 
Protestant  service  was  read  therein  on  the  day  of  the 
opening  of  Parliament ;  and  even  lord  Barry  retired  when 
he  laid  the  sword  of  state  before  the  lord  deputy.  We 
may  excuse  them  for  submitting  to  the  attainder  of 


Charles's  graces. 


307 


O'Neill  and  O'Donnell,  for  there  were  few  national  mem- 
bers who  had  not  withdrawn  before  the  vote  was  passed. 

Chichester  retired  from  the  government  of  Ireland  in 
1616.  In  1617  a  proclamation  was  issued  for  the  expul- 
sion of  the  Catholic  clergy,  and  the  city  of  Waterford 
was  deprived  of  its  charter  in  consequence  of  the  spirited 
opposition  which  its  corporation  offered  to  the  oath  of 
spiritual  supremacy.  In  1622  viscount  Falkland  came 
over  as  deputy,  and  Usher,  who  was  at  heart  a  Puritan, 
preached  a  violent  sermon  before  him,  in  which  he  sug- 
gested a  very  literal  application  of  the  text  "He  bear- 
eth  not  the  sword  in  vain." 

On  the  accession  of  Charles  I.,  in  1625,  it  was  so  gen- 
erally supposed  he  would  favor  the  Catholic  cause,  that 
the  earliest  act  of  the  new  Parliament  in  London  was 
to  vote  a  petition,  begging  the  king  to  enforce  the  laws 
against  recusants  and  popish  priests.  The  viceroy,  lgrd 
Falkland,  advised  the  Irish  Catholics  to  propitiate  him 
with  a  voluntary  subsidy.  They  offered  the  enormous  sum 
of  120,O00Z.,  to  be  paid  in  three  annual  instalments,  and 
in  return  he  promised  them  certain  "  graces."  The  con- 
tract was  ratified  by  royal  proclamation,  in  which  the 
concessions  were  accompanied  by  a  promise  that  a  Par- 
liament should  be  held  to  confirm  them.  The  first  instal- 
ment of  the  money  was  paid,  and  the  Irish  agents  re- 
turned home  to  find  themselves  cruelly  deceived  and 
basely  cheated.  Falkland  was  recalled  by  the  Puritan 
party,  on  suspicion  of  favoring  the  Catholics  ;  viscount 
Ely  and  the  earl  of  Cork  were  appointed  lords  justices  ; 
and  a  reign  of  terror  was  at  once  commenced. 

Wentworth  assembled  a  Parliament  in  July,  1634,  the 
year  after  his  arrival  in  Ireland.  Its  subserviency  was 
provided  for  by  having  a  number  of  persons  elected  who 
were  in  the  pay  of  the  crown  as  military  officers.  The 
"  graces  "  were  asked  for,  and  the  lord  deputy  declared 
they  should  be  granted  if  the  supply  was  readily  voted. 
"Surely,"  he  said,  "so  great  a  meanness  cannot  enter 
your  hearts  as  once  to  suspect  his  majesty's  gracious  re- 
gards of  you,  and  performance  with  you,  when  you  affix 
yourself  upon  his  grace."  This  speech  so  took  the  hearts 
of  the  people,  that  all  were  ready  to  grant  all  that  might  be 
demanded  ;  and  six  subsidies  of50,000Z.  each  were  voted, 
though  Wentworth  only  expected  30,OO0Z.   In  the  mean- 


308 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


while  neither  Wentwovth  nor  the  king  had  the  slightest 
idea  of  gran  ting  the  "  graces  ;  "  and  the  atrocious  duplic- 
ity and  incomparable  "  meanness  77  of  the  king  is  placed 
eternally  on  record,  in  his  own  letter  to  his  favorite,  in 
which  he  thanks  him  "for  keeping  off  the  envy  (odium) 
of  a  necessary  negative  from  me,  of  those  unreasonable 
graces  the  people  expected  from  me.77  Wentworth  him* 
self  describes  how  two  judges  and  Sir  John  Radcliffe 
assisted  him  in  the  plan,  and  how  a  positive  refusal  was 
made  to  recommend  the  passing  of  the  "  graces  77  into 
law  at  the  next  session. 

One  of  the  "  graces  77  was  to  make  sixty  years  of  undis- 
puted possession  of  property  a  bar  to  the  claims  of  the 
crown  ;  and  certainly  if  there  ever  was  a  country  where 
such  a  demand  was  necessary  and  reasonable,  it  was 
surely  Ireland.  There  had  been  so  many  plantations, 
it  was  hard  for  anything  to  grow ;  and  so  many  settle- 
ments, it  was  hard  for  anything  to  be  settled.  Each  new 
monarch,  since  the  first  invasion  of  the  country  by  Henry 
II.,  had  his  favorites  to  provide  for  and  his  friends  to 
oblige.  The  island  across  the  sea  was  considered  "  no 
man's  land,77  as  the  original  inhabitants  were  never  taken 
into  account,  and  were  simply  ignored,  unless,  indeed, 
when  they  made  their  presence  very  evident  by  open 
resistance  to  this  wholesale  robbery.  It  was  no  wonder, 
then,  that  this  "  grace  77  should  be  specially  solicited.  It 
was  one  in  which  the  last  English  settler  in  Ulster  had 
quite  as  great  an  interest  as  the  oldest  Celt  in  Connemara. 
The  Burkes  and  the  Geraldines  had  suffered  almost  as 
much  from  the  rapacity  of  their  own  countrymen  as  the 
natives,  on  whom  their  ancestors  had  inflicted  such  cruel 
wrongs.  No  man's  property  was  safe  in  Ireland,  for  the 
tenure  was  depending  on  the  royal  will ;  and  the  caprices 
of  the  Tudors  were  supplemented  by  the  necessities  of 
the  Stuarts. 

But  the  "  grace  77  was  refused,  although,  probably, 
there  was  many  a  recent  colonist  who  would  have  will- 
ingly given  one-half  of  his  plantation  to  have  secured 
the  other  to  his  descendants.  The  reason  of  the  refusal 
was  soon  apparent.  As  soon  as  Parliament  was  dis- 
solved, a  commission  of  "  defective  titles 77  was  issued 
for  Connaught.  Ulster  had  been  settled,  Leinster  had 
been  settled,  Munster  had  been  settled ;  there  remained 


WHOLESALE  CONFISCATIONS. 


309 


only  Connaught,  hitherto  so  inaccessible,  now,  with  ad- 
vancing knowledge  of  the  art  of  war,  and  new  means  of 
carrying  out  that  art,  doomed  to  the  scourge  of  desola- 
tion. 

The  process  was  extremely  simple.  The  lawyers  were 
set  to  work  to  hunt  out  old  claims  for  the  crown ;  and, 
as  Wentworth  had  determined  to  invalidate  the  title  to 
every  estate  in  Connaught,  they  had  abundant  occupa- 
tion. Roscommon  was  selected  for  a  commencement. 
The  sheriffs  were  directed  to  select  jurors'  who  would 
find  for  the  crown.  The  jurors  were  made  clearly  to 
understand  what  was  expected  from  them,  and  what  the 
consequences  would  be  if  they  were  "contumacious.'' 
The  object  of  the  crown  was,  of  course,  the  general  gooa 
of  the  country.  The  people  of  Connaught  were  to  be 
civilized  and  enriched ;  but,  in  order  to  carry  out  this 
very  desirable  arrangement,  the  present  proprietors  were 
to  be  replaced  by  new  landlords,  and  the  country  was  to 
be  placed  entirely  at  the  disposal  of  the  sovereign. 

It  was  now  discovered  that  the  lands  and  lordships  of 
De  Burgo,  adjacent  to  the  castle  of  Athlone,  and,  in  fact, 
the  whole  remaining  province  belonged  to  the  crown, 
It  would  be  useless  here  to  give  details  of  the  special 
pleading  on  which  this  statement  was  founded  ;  it  is  an 
illustration  of  what  has  been  observed  before,  that  the 
tenure  of  the  English  settler  was  quite  as  uncertain  as 
the  tenure  of  the  Celt.  The  jury  found  for  the  king; 
and,  as  a  reward,  the  foreman,  Sir  Lucas  Dillon,  was 
graciously  permitted  to  retain  a  portion  of  his  own  lands. 
Lowther,  chief  justice  of  the  Common  Pleas,  got  four 
shillings  in  the  pound  of  the  first  year's  rent  raised  under 
the  commission  of  "defective  titles.- '  The  juries  of 
Mayo  and  Sligo  were  equally  complacent;  but  there 
was  stern  resistance  made  inGalway,  and  stern  reprisals 
were  made  for  the  resistance.  The  jurors  were  fined 
4,000Z.  each,  and  wereimprisoned,  and  their  estates  seized 
until  that  sum  was  paid.  The  sheriff  was  fined  1,000/., 
and,  being  unable  to  pay  that  sum,  he  died  in  prison. 

The  property  of  the  earl  of  Ormonde  was  next  attacked, 
but  he  made  a  prudent  compromise,  and  was  too  pow- 
erful to  be  resisted.  A  Court  of  Wards  was  now  estab- 
lished to  have  all  heirs  to  estates  brought  up  in  the  Prot- 
estant religion  ;  and  a  High  Commission  Court  was 


310 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


instituted,  which  rivalled  the  exactions  of  the  English 
Star  Chamber. 

In  1641  Wentworth  fell  a  victim  himself  to  the  Puritan 
interest,  and  a  new  insurrection  was  formed  in  Ireland 
soon  after  his  execution,  headed  by  Sir  Phelin  O'Neill, 
and  assisted  by  the  Irish  who  had  been  exiled  to  the 
continent  after  the  flight  of  the  earls.  O'Neill  assumed 
the  title  of  "  Lord  General  of  the  Catholic  army  in  Uls- 
ter ;  "  and  this  was,  in  fact,  the  inauguration  of  the  cel- 
ebrated Confederation  of  Kilkenny. 


THE  CONFEDERATION  OF  KILKENNY. 


311 


CHAPTER  XX. 

A.D.  1642  TO  A.D.  1689. 

THE  CONFEDERATION  OP  KILKENNY — THE  BANISH- 
MENT TO  CONNAUGHT. 

Contemporary  Events  :— Execution  of  Charles  I.— Protectorate  of 
Cromwell— Charles  X.  king  of  Sweden—Capture  of  Dunkirk— Res- 
toration of  Charles  II.— Titus  Oates's  Plot— The  names  of  Whig 
and  Tory  applied  to  Political  Parties— English  Revolution— Land- 
ing of  William  of  Orange  at  Torbay ,  and  Flight  of  James  II. 

On  March  22,  1641,  the  archbishop  of  Armagh  con- 
vened a  provincial  synod  at  Kells,  which  pronounced  the 
war  undertaken  by  the  Catholics  of  Ireland  lawful  and 
pious,  but  at  the  same  time  denounced  murders  and  usur- 
pations. Arrangements  were  then  made  for  a  national 
synod  to  be  held  at  Kilkenny  the  following  year.  This 
synod  met  at  Kilkenny,  on  May  10,  1642.  It  was  at- 
tended by  the  archbishops  of  Armagh,  Cashel,  and 
Tuam,  and  the  bishops  of  Ossorv-,  Elphin,  Waterford, 
and  Lismore,  Kildare,  Clonfert,  and  Down,  and  Connor. 
Proctors  attended  for  the  archbishop  of  Dublin,  and  for 
the  bishops  of  Limerick,  Emly  and  Killaloe.  There  were 
present,  also,  sixteen  other  dignitaries  and  heads  of 
religious  orders.  They  issued  a  manifesto  explaining 
their  conduct,  and,  forming  a  provisional  government, 
concluded  their  labors,  after  three  days  spent  in  careful 
deliberation. 

Owen  Roe  O'Neill  and  Colonel  Preston  arrived  in  Ire- 
land in  July,  1642,  accompanied  by  a  hundred  officers, 
and  well  supplied  with  arms  and  ammunition.  Sir  Phe- 
lim  O'Neill  went  at  onCe  to  meet  O'Neill,  and  resigned 
the  command  of  the  army ;  and  all  promised  fairly  for 
the  national  cause.  The  Scots,  who  had  kept  up  a  war 
of  their  own  for  some  time,  against  both  the  king  and 
the  Catholics,  were  wasting  Down  and  Antrim ;  and 


312 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


O'Neill  was  likely  to  need  all  his  military  skill  and  all  his 
political  wisdom  in  the  position  in  which  he  was  placed. 

Preston  had  landed  in  Wexford,  and  brought  a  still 
larger  force  ;  while  all  the  brave  expatriated  Irishmen 
in  foreign  service  hastened  home  the  moment  there  ap- 
peared a  hope  that  they  could  strike  a  blow  with  some 
effect  for  the  freedom  of  their  native  land. 

The  General  Assembly  projected  by  the  national  synod 
in  Kilkenny  held  its  first  meeting  on  October  14,  1642, 
—  eleven  spiritual  and  fourteen*temporal  peers,  with  226 
commoners,  representing  the  Catholic  population  of  Ire- 
land. The  house  used  was  in  the  market-place.  The 
peers  and  commoners  sat  together ;  but  a  private  room 
was  allotted  for  the  lords  to  consult  in.  Dr.  Patrick 
Darcy,  an  eminent  lawyer,  represented  the  chancellor 
and  the  judges,  Mr.  Nicholas  Plunket  was  chosen  as 
speaker ;  the  Rev.  Thomas  O'Quirk,  a  learned  Domini- 
can friar,  was  appointed  chaplain  to  both  houses. 

The  Assembly  at  once  declared  that  they  met  as  a 
provisional  government,  and  not  as  a  Parliament.  The 
preliminary  arrangements  occupied  them  until  the  1st  of 
November.  From  the  1st  until  the  4th,  the  committee 
were  engaged  in  drawing  up  a  form  for  the  confederate 
government ;  on  the  4th  it  was  sanctioned  by  the  two 
houses.  Magna  Charta,  and  the  common  and  statute 
law  of  England,  in  all  points  not  contrary  to  the  Catholic 
religion,  or  inconsistent  with  the  liberty  of  Ireland,  were 
made  the  basis  of  the  new  government.  The  adminis- 
trative authority  was  vested  in  a  supreme  council,  which 
was  then  chosen,  and  of  which  lord  Mountgarret  was 
elected  president. 

There  were  six  members  elected  for  each  province. 
For  Leinster,  the  archbishop  of  Dublin,  lords  Gormans- 
town  and  Mountgarret,  Nicholas  Plunket,  Richard  Bel- 
ling, and  James  Cusack.  For  Ulster,  the  archbishop  of 
Armagh,  the  bishop  of  Down,  Philip  O'Reilly,  colonel 
MacMahon,  Heber  Magennis,  and  Turlough  O'Neill.  For 
Munster,  viscount  Roche,  Sir  Daniel  O'Brien,  Edmund 
FitzMaurice,  Dr.  Fennell,  Robert  Lambert,  and  George 
Oomyn.  For  Connaught,  the  archbishop  of  Tuam,  vis- 
count Mayo,  the  bishop  of  Clonfert,  Sir  Lucas  Dillon, 
Geoffrey  Browne,  and  Patrick  Darcy.  The  earl  of  Cas- 
tlehaven,  who  had  just  escaped  from  his  imprisonment 


THE  CONFEDERATION  OP  KILKENNY. 


818 


in  Dublin,  was  added  as  a  twenty-fifth  member.  Gen- 
erals were  appointed  to  take  the  command  of  the  forces 
—  Owen  Roe  O'Neill,  for  Ulster  ;  Preston,  for  Leinster ; 
Barry,  for  Munster ;  and  Burke,  for  Connaught.  A  seal 
was  made,  a  printing-press  set  up,  and  a  mint  established. 
Money  was  coined  and  levied  for  the  necessary  expenses  ; 
and  a  levy  of  thirty-one  thousand  seven  hundred  men 
was  prepared  to  be  drilled  by  the  new  officers.  Envoys 
were  sent  to  solicit  assistance  from  the  Catholic  courts  . 
of  Europe ;  and  the  famous  and  learned  Franciscan, 
father  Luke  Wadding,  applied  himself  to  the  cause  with 
unremitting  earnestness.  Father  John  Talbot  was  em- 
ployed in  a  similar  manner  in  Spain. 

The  Assembly  broke  up  on  January  9,  1643,  after 
sending  a  remonstrance  to  the  king,  declaring  their  loy- 
alty, and  explaining  their  grievances. 

Charles  sent  the  marquis  of  Ormonde  and  some  other 
noblemen  to  make  terms  with  the  Confederates.  But 
even  then  they  were  divided  into  two  parties, —  the  de- 
scendants of  the  English  settlers  who  were  willing  to 
have  peace  on  almost  any  terms ;  and  the  native  Irish 
lords  and  chiefs,  anxious  for  a  complete  freedom  from 
English  rule. 

Ormonde  was  well  aware  of  the  men  with  whom,  and 
the  opinions  with  which,  he  had  to  deal,  and  he  acted 
accordingly.  In  the  various  engagements  which  oc- 
curred, the  Irish  were  on  the  whole  successful.  They 
had  gained  an  important  victory  near  Fermoy,  princi- 
pally through  the  headlong  valor  of  a  troop  of  mere  boys, 
who  dashed  down  with  wild  impetuosity  on  the  English, 
and  showed  what  metal  there  was  still  left  in  the  coun- 
try. Envoys  were  arriving  from  foreign  courts,  and  Ur- 
ban VIII.  had  sent  father  Scarampi  with  indulgences 
and  a  purse  of  thirty  thousand  dollars,  collected  by 
father  Wadding.  It  was,  therefore,  most  important  that 
the  movement  should  be  checked  in  some  way  ;  and,  as 
it  could  not'be  suppressed  by  force,  it  was  suppressed 
by  diplomacy. 

On  September  15,  1643,  a  cessation  of  arms  for  one 
year  was  agreed  upon.  The  Irish  observed  the  truce 
honorably.  The  Puritan  party  professed  to  regard  the 
cessation  of  hostilities  as  a  crime,  and  therefore  did  not 
consider  themselves  bound  to  observe  it.  Charles  was 
14 


314 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


now  besieged  with  petitions  and  counter-petitions.  The 
Confederates  asked  for  liberty  of  conscience  ;  the  Puri- 
tans demanded  a  stern  enforcement  of  the  penal  laws. 
Complaints  were  made  on  both  sides  of  the  infringement 
of  the  cessation  ;  but  Monroe  was  the  chief  offender;  and 
Owen  O'Neill  was  summoned  to  consult  with  the  supreme 
council  at  Kilkenny.  Lord  Castlehaven,  who  was  utterly 
incompetent  for  such  an  appointment,  was  given  the 
command  of  the  army;  and  O'Neill,  though  he  felt  hurt 
at  the  unjust  preference,  submitted  generously. 

In  August,  1644,  the  cessation  was  again  renewed  by 
the  General  Assembly  until  December,  and  subsequently 
for  a  longer  period.  Thus  precious  time,  and,  what  was 
still  more  precious,  the  fresh  energies  and  interests  of 
the  Confederates,  were  hopelessly  lost.  The  king's  gen- 
erals, rather  it  should  be  said  the  Parliamentary  officers, 
observed  or  held  these  engagements  at  their  convenience, 
and  made  treaties  of  their  own  :  thus  Inchiquin  and  Pur- 
cell  made  a  truce  between  themselves  in  the  south.  As 
the  king's  affairs  became  daily  more  complicated,  and 
his  position  more  perilous,  he  saw  the  necessity  for 
peace  with  his  Irish  subjects,  and  for  allying  himself 
with  them,  if  possible^  Ormonde  received  ample  powers 
to  grant  every  concession,  but  it  was  too  late  for  the 
Irish  to  be  of  any  assistance  to  the  unhappy  monarch. 
A  compact  was,  however,  made,  which  proved  equally 
useless  to  both  parties.  The  Irish  were  promised  lib- 
erty of  conscience  ;  they,  in  their  turn,  promised  to  send 
ten  thousand  armed  men,  under  the  command  of  lord 
Herbert,  to  assist  the  king  in  England. 

In  the  meantime  Belling,  the  secretary  of  the  supreme 
council,  was  sent  to  Rome,  and  presented  to  Innocent 
X.,  by  father  Wadding,  as  the  envoy  of  the  Confederate 
Catholics,  in  February,  1645.  On  hearing  his  report,  the 
pope  sent  John  Baptist  Rinuccini,  archbishop  of  Fermo, 
to  Ireland  as  nuncio-extraordinary.  This  prelate  set  out 
immediately  ;  and,  after  some  detention  at  St.  Germains, 
for  the  purpose  of  conferring  with  the  English  queen, 
who  had  taken  refuge  there,  he  purchased  the  frigate  of 
San  Pietro  at  Rochelle,  stored  it  with  arms  and  ammu- 
nition, and,  after  some  escapes  from  the  Parliamentary 
cruisers,  landed  safely  in  Kenmare  bay,  on  October  21, 
1645.    He  was  soon  surrounded  and  welcomed  by  the 


REPORT  OF  JOHN  BAPTIST  RINUCCINI. 


315 


peasantry  ;  and  after  celebrating  Mass  in  a  poor  hut,  he 
at  once  proceeded  to  Limerick.  Here  he  celebrated  the 
obsequies  of  the  archbishop  of  Tuam,  and  then  passed  on 
to  Kilkenny.  He  entered  the  old  city  in  state,  attended 
by  the  clergy.  At  the  entrance  to  the  cathedral  he  was 
met  by  the  bishop  of  Ossory,  who  was  unable  to  walk  in 
the  procession.  When  the  Te  Deum  had  been  sung,  he 
was  received  in  the  castle  by  the  General  Assembly,  and 
addressed  them  in  Latin.  After  this  he  returned  to  the 
residence  prepared  for  him. 

This  prelate  was  undoubtedly  a  man  of  considerable 
ability  and  remarkable  penetration.  He  soon  discerned 
the  difficulties  of  his  position.  The  following  extract 
from  his  private  report  to  the  Holy  See  will  show  how 
thoroughly  he  was  master  of  the  situation  in  a  diplomatic 
point  of  view  :  "  From  time  immemorial  two  adverse  par- 
ties have  always  existed  among  the  Catholics  of  Ireland. 
The  first  are  called  the  '  old  Irish.'  They  are  most 
numerous  in  Ulster,  where  they  seem  to  have  their  head- 
quarters ;  for  even  the  earl  of  Tyrone  placed  himself  at 
their  head,  and  maintained  a  protracted  war  against  Eliz- 
abeth. The  second  may  be  called  the  1  old  English  * — 
a  race  introduced  into  Ireland  in  the  reign  of  Henry  II., 
the  fifth  king  in  succession  from  William  the  Conqueror, 
so  called  to  distinguish  them  from  the  1  new  English/ 
who  have  come  into  the  kingdom  along  with  the  modern 
heresy.  These  parties  are  opposed  to  each  other  princi- 
pally on  the  following  grounds  :  the  old  Irish,  entertain- 
ing a  great  aversion  for  heresy,  are  also  averse  to  the 
dominion  of  England,  and  have  refused,  generally  speak- 
ing, to  accept  the  investiture  of  church  property  of- 
fered to  them  since  the  apostasy  of  the  kings  of  Eng- 
land from  the  Church.  The  others,  on  the  contrary, 
enriched  with  the  spoils  of  the  monasteries,  and  thus 
bound  to  the  king  by  obligation,  no  less  than  by  interest, 
neither  seek  nor  desire  anything  but  the  exaltation  of  the 
crown,  esteem  no  laws  but  those  of  the  realm,  are  thor- 
oughly English  in  their  feelings,  and,  from  their  constant 
familiarity  with  heretics,  are  less  jealous  of  differences 
of  religion. n 

The  nuncio  then  goes  on  to  state  how  even  the  military 
command  was  divided  between  these  two  parties  — 
O'Neill  belonging  to  the  old  Irish  interest,  and  Prestoa 


316 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


to  the  new.  He  also  mentions  the  manner  in  which  this 
difference  of  feeling  extended  to  the  lower  classes,  and 
particularly  to  those  who  served  in  the  army. 

The  Confederates  now  began  to  be  distinguished  into 
two  parties,  as  Nuncionists  and  Ormondists.  Two  sets 
of  negotiations  were  carried  on,  openly  with  Ormonde, 
and  secretly  with  Glamorgan.  The  nuncio,  from  the  first, 
apprehended  the  treachery  of  Charles,  and  events  proved 
the  correctness  of  his  forebodings.  Glamorgan  produced 
his  credentials,  dated  April  30,  1645,  in  which  the  king 
promised  to  ratify  whatever  terms  he  might  make  ;  and 
he  further  promised  that  the  Irish  soldiers,  whose  assist- 
ance he  demanded,  should  be  brought  back  to  their  own 
shores,  if  these  arrangements  were  not  complied  with  by 
his  master.  Meanwhile  a  copy  of  this  secret  treaty  was 
discovered  on  the  archbishop  of  Tuam,  who  had  been 
killed  at  Sligo.  It  was  used  as  an  accusation  against 
the  king.  Glamorgan  was  arrested  in  Dublin,  and  the 
whole  scheme  was  defeated. 

The  General  Assembly  met  in  Kilkenny  in  January, 
1646,  and  demanded  the  release  of  Glamorgan.  He  was 
bailed  out;  but  the  king  disowned  the  commission, 
as  Rinuccini  had  expected,  and  proved  himself  thereby 
equally  a  traitor  to  his  Catholic  and  Protestant  subjects. 
Ormonde  took  care  to  foment  the  division  between  the 
Confederate  party,  and  succeeded  so  well  that  a  middle 
party  was  formed,  who  signed  a  treaty  consisting  of 
thirty  articles.  This  document  only  provided  for  the 
religious  part  of  the  question,  that  Roman  Catholics 
should  not  be  bound  to  take  the  oath  of  supremacy.  An 
act  of  oblivion  was  passed,  and  the  Catholics  were  to 
continue  to  hold  their  possessions  until  a  settlement  could 
be  made  by  act  of  Parliament.  Even  in  a  political  point 
of  view  this  treaty  was  a  failure  ;  and  one  would  have 
thought  that  Irish  chieftains  and  Anglo-Irish  nobles  had 
known  enough  of  acts  of  Parliament  to  have  prevented 
them  from  confiding  their  hopes  to  such  an  uncertain 
future. 

The  division  of  the  command  in  the  Confederate  army 
had  been  productive  of  most  disastrous  consequences. 
The  rivalry  between  O'Neill,  Preston,  and  Owen  Roe 
increased  the  complication ;  but  the  nuncio  managed  to 
reconcile  the  two  O'Neills,  and  active  preparations  were 


cromwell's  campaigns  in  Ireland.  Bill 

made  by  Owen  Eoe  for  his  famous  northern  campaign. 
The  Irish  troops  intended  for  Charles  had  remained  in 
their  own  country ;  the  unfortunate  monarch  had  com- 
mitted his  last  fatal  error  by  confiding  himself  to  his 
Scotch  subjects,  who  sold  him  to  his  own  people  for 
400,0002.  Ormonde  now  refused  to  publish  the  treaty 
which  had  been  just  concluded,  or  even  to  enforce  its 
observance  by  Monroe,  although  the  Confederates  had 
given  him  3,000Z.  to  get  up  an  expedition  for  that  pur- 
pose. 

In  the  beginning  of  June,  a.  d.  164G,  Owen  Roe  O'Neill 
marched  against  Monroe,  with  five  thousand  foot  and 
five  hundred  horse.  Monroe  received  notice  of  his 
approach ;  and,  although  his  force  was  far  superior  to 
O'Neill's,  he  sent  for  reinforcements  of  cavalry  from  his 
brother,  colonel  George  Monroe,  who  was  stationed  at 
Coleraine.  But  the  Irish  forces  advanced  more  quickly 
than  he  expected ;  and  on  the  4th  of  J une  they  had 
crossed  the  Blackwater,  and  encamped  at  Benburb. 
Here,  on  the  5th  of  June,  a.  d.  1646,  he  won  a  victory, 
which  is  considered  famous  in  the  annals  of  Irish  warfare. 
For  a  time  the  party  who  adhered  to  the  nuncio  kept  the 
upper  hand.  But  theif  triumph  was  of  brief  continuance. 
The  spirit  of  disunion,  which  seems  an  essential  charac- 
teristic of  the  Celt,  soon  confounded  the  best-laid  plans. 
The  generals  of  the  Confederate  army  could  not  agree ; 
Preston  was  even  suspected  of  treachery.  The  Puritans 
were  every  day  growing  stronger,  and  more  united, 
while  the  confederated  Catholics  were  as  steadily  losing 
power  and  influence.  O'Neill  seemed  to  be  the  only  prop 
of  a  falling  cause.  One  party  were  trying  to  make  terms 
with  Ormonde.  Rinuccini,  as  a  lastresource,  had  recourse 
to  ecclesiastical  intervention,  and  excommunicated  those 
who  joined  this  party.  The  treaty  was,  however,  made 
and  signed  ;  but  the  ink  was  scarcely  dry  when  the  exe- 
cution of  Charles  I.  made  it  absolutely  useless.  Rinuc- 
cini embarked  in  the  San  Pietro  once  more,  and  returned 
to  Italy,  February  23,  1649. 

Charles  II.  was  at  the  Hague,  and,  with  the  usual 
fatuity  of  a  Stuart,  equally  unwilling  to  risk  a  visit  to 
Ireland,  or  a  bold  appeal  to  his  English  subjects. 

Cromwell  had  been  made  lieutenant-general  of  the 
English  army  in  Ireland,  but  as  yet  he  had  been  una- 


318 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


ble  to  take  the  command  in  person.  His  position  was 
precarious ;  and  he  wished  to  secure  his  influence  still 
more  firmly  in  his  own  country,  before  he  attempted  the 
conquest  of  another.  He  had  succeeded  so  far  in  the 
accomplishment  of  his  plans,  that  his  departure  and  his 
journey  to  Bristol  were  undertaken  in  royal  style.  He 
left  the  metropolis  early  in  June,  in  a  coach  drawn  by 
six  gallant  Flanders  mares,  and  concluded  his  progress 
at  Milford  haven,  where  he  embarked,  reaching  Ireland 
on  the  14th  of  August,  1649.  He  was  attended  by  some 
of  the  most  famous  of  the  Parliamentary  generals  —  his 
son  Henry,  the  future  lord  deputy ;  Monck,  Blake,  Ire- 
ton,  Waller,  Ludlow,  and  others.  He  brought  with  him, 
for  the  propagation  of  the  Gospel  and  the  Commonwealth, 
200,OOOZ.  in  money,  eight  regiments  of  foot,  six  of  horse, 
several  troops  of  dragoons,  a  large  supply  of  Bibles,  and 
a  corresponding  provision  of  ammunition  and  scythes. 
The  Bibles  were  to  be  distributed  amongst  his  soldiers, 
and  to  be  given  to  the  unfortunate  natives,  who  could  not 
understand  a  word  of  their  contents.  The  scythes  and 
sickles  were  to  deprive  them  of  all  means  of  living,  and 
to  preach  a  ghastly  commentary  on  the  conduct  of  the 
men  who  wished  to  convert  them  to  the  new  Gospel, 
which  certainly  was  not  one  of  peace.  Cromwell  now 
issued  two  proclamations  :  one  against  intemperance,  for 
he  knew  well  the  work  that  was  before  him,  and  he  could 
not  afford  to  have  a  single  drunken  soldier  in  his  camp. 
The  other  proclamation  prohibited  plundering  the  coun- 
try people  :  it  was  scarcely  less  prudent.  His  soldiers 
might  any  day  become  his  masters,  if  they  were  not  kept 
under  strict  control ;  and  there  are  few  things  which 
so  effectually  lessen  military  discipline  as  permission  to 
plunder  :  he  also  wished  to  encourage  the  country  people 
to  bring  in  provisions.    His  arrangements  all  succeeded. 

Ormonde  had  garrisoned  Drogheda  with  three  thousand 
of  his  choicest  troops.  They  were  partly  English,  and 
were  commanded  by  a  brave  loyalist,  Sir  Arthur  Aston. 
This  was  really  the  most  important  town  in  Ireland  ;  and 
Cromwell,  whose  skill  as  a  military  general  cannot  be 
disputed,  at  once  determined  to  lay  siege  to  it.  After 
a  brave  resistance  its  defenders  yielded  on  a  promise  of 
quarter;  but  the  quarter  was  not  given,  and  five  days 
were  spent  in  butchering  men,  women,  and  children,  in 


MASSACRE  AT  WEXFORD. 


319 


cold  blood.  Cromwell's  theory  was,  that  extermination 
was  the  most  merciful  policy,  and  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  he  carried  it  out.  His  savage  butcheries  had  their 
effect,  and  even  to  the  present  day  his  name  is  uttered 
with  curses  and  imprecations  by  the  lower  classes.  His 
next  massacre  was  perpetrated  at  Wexford  ;  the  people 
made  what  he  termed  M  a  stiff  resistance. ;;  The  garri- 
son amounted  to  about  three  thousand  men,  under  the 
command  of  colonel  Sinnott,  a  brave  loyalist.  After 
some  correspondsnce  on  both  sides,  a  conference  took 
place  between  four  of  the  royalists  and  Cromwell,  at 
which  he  contrived  to  bribe  captain  Stafford,  the  gov- 
ernor of  the  castle.  The  conditions  asked,  preparatory 
to  surrender,  were  liberty  of  conscience,  and  permission 
to  withdraw  in  safety,  and  with  military  honors.  Crom- 
well's idea  of  liberty  of  conscience  was  as  peculiar  as 
his  idea  of  honor.  He  wrote  to  the  governor  of  Ross  to 
say  that  he  would  not  tl  meddle  with  any  man's  con- 
science ;  ,;  but  adds  :  "  If  by  liberty  of  conscience  you 
mean  a  liberty  to  exercise  the  Mass,  I  judge  it  best  to  use 
plain  dealing,  and  to  tell  you  now,  where  the  Parliament 
of  England  have  power,  that  will  not  be  allowed  of;  " 
which,  in  plain  English,  meant  that  he  professed  liberty 
of  conscience,  but  allowed  it  only  to  such  as  agreed  with 
himself.  Of  his  estimation  of  honor,  his  dealings  at 
Wexford  afford  a  fair  sample.  As  soon  as  he  had  found 
that  Stafford  could  be  bribed,  he  denounced  the  pro- 
posals of  the  garrison  as  abominable  and  impudent.  The 
traitor  opened  the  castle  gates,  and  the  parliamentary 
troops  marched  in.  The  massacre  of  Drogheda  was  re- 
newed with  all  its  horrors,  and  the  treacherous  general 
held  in  his  hand  all  the  time  the  formal  offer  of  surrender 
which  had  been  made  by  the  townspeople,  and  his  own 
reply.  He  informs  the  Parliament  that  he  did  not  intend 
to  destroy  the  town,  but  his  own  letter  reveals  his  treach- 
ery ;  and  he  congratulates  his  correspondents  on  the 
"  unexpected  providence  99  which  had  befallen  them. 
Soon  after,  the  Parliament  recalled  Cromwell  to  England, 
where  the  royalists  had  also  to  be  crushed,  and,  if  possi- 
ble, exterminated.  He  left  the  command  of  the  army  in 
Ireland  to  his  son-in-law,  Ireton. 

Charles  II.  landed  in  Scotland  on  June  28,  1650,  and 
soon  after  signed  the  Covenant,  and  a  declaration  in 


320 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


which  he  stated  the  peace  with  Ireland  to  be  null  and  void, 
adding,  with  equal  untruthfulness  and  meanness,  that 
"he  was  convinced  in  his  conscience  of  the  sinfulness 
and  unlawfulness  of  it,  and  of  allowing  them  (the  Cath- 
olics) the  liberty  of  the  popish  religion  ;  for  which  he  did 
from  his  heart  desire  to  be  deeply  humbled  before  the 
Lord."  Ormonde  declared,  what  was  probably  true, 
that  the  king  had  been  obliged  to  make  these  statements, 
and  that  they  meant  nothing ;  but  neither  his  protes- 
tations nor  his  diplomacy  could  save  him  from  general 
contempt ;  and  having  appointed  the  marquis  of  Clan- 
rickarde  to  administer  the  government  of  Ireland  for 
the  king,  he  left  the  country  accompanied  by  some  of  the 
leading  royalists,  and,  after  a  stormy  passage,  arrived 
at  St.  Malo,  in  Brittany,  early  in  the  year  1651.  The 
Irish  again  sacrificed  their  interests  to  their  loyalty,  and 
refused  favorable  terms  offered  to  them  by  the  parlia- 
mentary party,  they  even  attempted  to  mortgage  the 
town  of  Galway,  to  obtain  money  for  the  royal  cause, 
and  an  agreement  was  entered  into  with  the  duke  of  Lor- 
raine for  this  purpose ;  but  the  disasters  of  the  battle  of 
Worcester,  and  the  triumphs  of  the  republican  faction, 
soon  deprived  them  of  every  hope. 

The  siege  of  Limerick  by  Ireton  is  the  next  event  of 
general  interest  in  the  history  of  the  civil  war  in  Ireland. 
The  entry  into  the  devoted  city  was  accomplished  by  the 
treachery  of  the  governor.  Twenty-four  persons  were 
exempt  from  quarter,  and  amongst  these  were  several 
priests  and  a  Dominican  prelate  of  considerable  reputa- 
tion, Dr.  Jerome  O'Brien.  It  is  said  that  as  he  was  be- 
ing led  to  execution  he  turned  to  Ireton  and  commanded 
him  to  answer  at  God's  judgment-seat  for  his  cruelties. 
It  is  certain  that  Ireton  died  eight  days  after,  raVing 
wildly  of  the  men  whom  he  had  executed,  November  26, 
1651. 

Ludlow  now  took  the  command,  and  marched  to  assist 
Coote,  who  was  besieging  Galway.  This  town  surren- 
dered on  the  12th  of  May,  1652.  The  few  Irish  officers 
who  still  held  out  against  the  Parliament  made  the  best 
terms  they  could  for  themselves  individually  ;  and  there 
was  a  brief  peace,  the  precursor  of  yet  more  terrible 
storms. 

Fearful  as  are  the  records  given  by  Spenser  of  1580, 


IRISH  SOLDIERS  ENTER  FOREIGN  SERVICE.  321 

when  neither  the  lowing  of  a  cow  nor  the  voice  of  a 
herdsman  could  be  heard  from  Dunquin  in  Kerry  to 
Cashel  in  Munster,  there  seems  to  have  been  a  deeper 
depth  of  misery  after  Cromwell's  massacres.  In  1653 
the  English  themselves  were  nearly  starving,  even  in 
Dublin  ;  and  cattle  had  to  be  imported  from  Wales.  There 
was  no  tillage,  and  a  license  was  required  to  kill  lamb. 
The  Irish  had  fled  into  the  mountains,  the  only  refuge 
left  to  them  now ;  and  the  Parliamentary  officers  were 
obliged  to  issue  proclamations  inviting  their  return,  and 
promising  them  safety  and  protection.  But  the  grand 
object  of  the  revolutionary  party  was  still  to  carry  out 
the  wild  scheme  of  unpeopling  Ireland  of  the  Irish,  and 
planting  it  anew  with  English, —  a  scheme  which  had 
been  so  often  attempted,  and  had  so  signally  failed,  that 
one  marvels  how  it  could  again  have  been  brought  for- 
ward. Still  there  were  always  adventurers  ready  to 
fight  for  other  men's  lands,  and  subjects  who  might  be 
troublesome  at  home,  whom  it  was  found  desirable  to 
occupy  in  some  way  abroad.  But  a  grand  effort  was 
made  now  to  get  rid  of  as  many  Irishmen  as  possible  in 
a  peaceable  manner.  The  valor  of  the  Irish  soldier  was 
well  known  abroad  ;  and  agents  from  the  king  of  Spain, 
the  king  of  Poland,  and  the  prince  de  Conde  were  con- 
tending for  those  brave  fellows,  who  were  treated  like 
slaves  in  their  native  land,  and  then,  if  they  dared  to 
resist,  branded  with  the  foul  name  of  rebels.  If  a  keen 
had  rung  out  loud  and  long  when  O'Donnell  left  his 
native  land  never  to  return,  well  might  it  ring  out  now 
yet  more  wildly.  In  May,  1652,  Don  Ricardo  White 
shipped  seven  thousand  men  for  the  king  of  Spain ;  in 
September,  colonel  Mayo  collected  three  thousand  more, 
lord  Muskerry  took  five  thousand  to  Poland ;  and,  in 
1654,  colonel  Dwyer  went  to  serve  the  prince  de  Conde 
with  three  thousand  five  hundred  men.  Other  officers 
looked  up  the  men  who  had  served  under  them,  and  ex- 
patriated themselves  in  smaller  parties ;  so  that,  between 
1651  and  1654,  thirty-four  thousand  Irishmen  had  left 
their  native  land ;  and  few,  indeed,  ever  returned  to  its 
desolate  shores. 

But  their  lot  was  merciful  compared  with  the  fate  of 
those  who  still  remained.  In  1653  Ireland  was  consid- 
ered sufficiently  depopulated  by  war  and  emigration  to 


322 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


admit  of  a  commencement  of  the  grand  planting.  The 
country  was  again  portioned  out ;  again  the  ruling  pow- 
ers selected  the  best  portion  of  the  land  for  themselves 
and  their  favorites  ;  again  the  religion  of  the  country  was 
reformed,  and  Protestant  prelates  were  condemned  as 
loudly,  though  they  were  not  hunted  as  unmercifully  as 
popish  priests  ;  again  the  wild  and  lawless  adventurer 
was  sent  to  eject  the  old  proprietor,  and  the  wildest  and 
most  merciless  scheme  that  was  ever  devised  for  the 
destruction  of  a  nation  was  now  put  into  force.  If  we 
had  not  ample  documentary  evidence,  in  the  shape  of 
acts  of  Parliament  and  proclamations,  it  would  be  almost 
impossible  to  credit  the  details  of  the  banishment  to  Con- 
naught. 

On  the  26th  of  September,  1653,  all  the  property  of 
the  Irish  people  was  declared  to  belong  to  the  English 
army  and  adventurers  ;  "  and  it  was  announced  that  the 
Parliament  had  assigned  Connaught  for  the  habitation 
of  the  Irish  nation,  whither  they  must  transplant,  with 
their  wives,  and  daughters,  and  children,  before  the  1st 
of  May  following,  under  the  penalty  of  death,  if  found 
on  this  side  of  the  Shannon  after  that  day."  It  must 
not  be  supposed  that  this  death  penalty  was  a  mere 
threat ;  it  was  put  into  execution  with  inexorable  sever- 
ity. In  order  that  no  one  might  plead  ignorance,  an  offi- 
cial proclamation  was  made  in  the  preamble  thus  :  "  The 
Parliament  of  the  Commonwealth  of  England,  having,  by 
an  act  lately  passed  (entitled  an  Act  for  the  Settling  of 
Ireland),  declared  that  it  is  not  their  intention  to  extirpate 
this  whole  nation  ...  it  is  ordered  that  the  governor 
and  commissioners  of  revenue  ...  do  cause  the  said 
act  of  Parliament,  with  this  present  declaration,  to  be 
published  and  proclaimed  in  their  respective  precincts, 
by  beat  of  drum  and  sound  of  trumpet,  on  some  market- 
day  within  ten  days  after  the  same  shall  come  unto  them 
within  their  respective  precincts. 77 

Any  man,  woman,  or  child  who  had  disobeyed  this 
order,  no  matter  from  what  cause,  could  be  instantly 
executed  in  any  way,  by  any  of  these  soldiers  or  adven- 
turers, without  judge,  jury,  or  trial.  It  was,  in  fact, 
constituting  a  special  commission  for  the  newcomers  to 
murder  all  the  old  inhabitants. 

Connaught  was  selected  for  two  reasons  :  "  first,  be- 


THE  BANISHMENT  TO  CONNAUGHT. 


323 


cause  it  was  the  most  wasted  province  of  Ireland  ;  and 
secondly,  because  it  could  be,  and  in  fact,  was,  most 
easily  converted  into  a  national  prison,  by  erecting  a 
cordon  militaire  across  the  country,  from  sea  to  sea.  To 
make  the  imprisonment  more  complete,  a  belt  four  miles 
wide,  commencing  one  mile  to  the  west  of  Sligo,  and 
thence  running  along  the  coast  and  the  Shannon,  was  to 
be  given  to  the  soldiery  to  plant.  Thus,  any  Irishman 
who  attempted  to  escape  would  be  sure  of  instant  cap- 
ture and  execution. 

The  government,  as  it  has  been  already  remarked, 
reserved  the  best  part  of  the  land  for  themselves.  They 
secured  the  towns,  church-lands,  and  tithes,  and  abolished 
the  Established  Church,  with  all  its  officers,  which  had 
been  so  recently  declared  the  religion  of  the  courftry. 
A  "  Church  of  Christ "  was  now  the  established  religion, 
and  a  Mr.  Thomas  Hicks  was  approved  by  the  "  Church 
of  Christ,"  meeting  at  Chichester  House,  as  one  fully 
*  qualified  to  preach  and  dispense  the  Gospel  as  often  as 
the  Lord  should  enable  him,  and  in  such  places  as  the 
Lord  should  make  his  ministry  most  effectual.  The  Par- 
liament also  reserved  for  themselves  the  counties  of  Dub- 
lin, Kildare,  Carlow,  and  Cork  ;  and  from  these  lands  and 
the  church  property  they  were  to  enrich  themselves, 
and,  with  what  they  could  spare,  to  reward  the  leading 
regicides  and  rebels.  The  adventurers  were  next  pro- 
vided for.  They  claimed  360,000/.  This  was  divided 
into  three  lots,  to  be  paid  in  lands  in  Munster,  Leinster, 
and  Ulster.  All  these  were  to  be  drawn  by  lot ;  and  a 
lottery  was  held  at  Grocer's  Hall,  London,  which  com- 
menced at  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning,  on  the  20th  of 
July,  1653,  at  which  time  and  place,  men  who  professed 
the  advancement  of  the  Christian  religion  to  be  the  busi- 
ness of  their  lives,  openly  and  flagrantly  violated  the 
most  solemn  and  explicit  commands  of  that  very  belief 
which  they  declared  themselves  so  zealous  in  upholding. 
The  soldiers  and  officers  were  to  obtain  whatever  was 
left  after  the  adventurers  had  been  satisfied. 

A  book  was  written  by  a  Franciscan  father,  called 
Threnodia  Hiberno-  Catholica,  sive  Planctus  Universalis 
totius  Cleri  et  Populi  Regni  Hibernice,  in  which  the  wri- 
ter states  that  he  heard  a  great  Protestant  statesman 
give  three  reasons  why  this  transplantation  was  con- 


324 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


fined  to  the  gentry,  and  why  the  poor,  who  had  not  been 
either  transported  or  hanged,  were  allowed  to  remain  : 

1)  because  the  English  wanted  them  to  till  the  ground  ; 

2)  they  hoped  they  would  become  Protestants  when 
deprived  of  their  priests;  (3)  because  the  settlers  re- 
quired servants,  or  else  they  should  have  worked  for 
themselves. 

But  the  fatal  day  at  length  arrived,  and  those  who  had 
dared  to  linger,  or  to  hope  that  so  cruel  a  sentence  would 
not  be  finally  executed,  were  at  once  undeceived.  The 
commissioners  had  been  in  trouble  all  the  winter :  the 
people  who  were  to  be  driven  out  of  their  farms  refused 
to  sow  for  those  who  were  to  succeed  them ;  and  the 
very  plotters  of  the  iniquity  began  to  tremble  for  the 
consequences  in  which  they  might  be  themselves  in- 
volved. 

Kemonstrances  and  complaints  were  sent  to  the  faction 
who  governed  England,  but  all  was  in  vain.  The  prin- 
cipal petitioners  were  the  descendants  of  the  English 
nobles  ;  they  were  now,  by  a  just  retribution,  suffering 
themselves  the  very  miseries  which  they  had  so  ruth- 
lessly inflicted  on  the  native  Irish.  The  petitioners,  says 
Mr.  Prendergast,  were  the  noble  and  the  wealthy,  men 
of  ancient  English  blood,  descendants  of  the  invaders  — 
the  FitzGeralds,  the  Butlers,  the  Plunkets,  the  Barn- 
walls,  Dillons,  Cheevers,  Cusacks,  names  found  appended 
to  various  schemes  for  extirpating  or  transplanting  the 
Irish,  after  the  subduing  of  lord  Thomas  FitzGerald's 
rebellion  in  1535  —  who  were  now  to  transplant  as  Irish. 
The  native  Irish  were  too  poor  to  pay  scriveners  and 
messengers  to  the  Council,  and  their  sorrows  were 
unheard ;  though  under  their  rough  coats  beat  hearts 
that  felt  as  great  pangs  at  being  driven  from  their  native 
homes  as  the  highest  in  the  land. 

One  of  these  English  families  demands  special  mention. 
Edmund  Spenser's  grandson  was  now  commanded  to 
1  transplant,  as  though  he  too  had  been  "mere  Irish  ; " 
and  the  very  estate  near  Fermoy,  which  had  been  con- 
fiscated from  the  FitzGeralds  seventy  years  before,  and 
which  the  poet  had  obtained  thus  fraudulently,  was  now 
confiscated  anew,  and  granted  to  Cromwell's  soldiers. 
William  Spenser  protested  ;  he  pleaded  his  grandfather's 
name,  he  pleaded  his  grandfather's  services,  especially 


PUNISHMENTS  FOR  NOT  TRANSPLANTING.  325 


the  odium  he  had  incurred  amongst  the  Irish  by  the  way 
in  which  he  had  written  of  them,  and  lastly,  William 
Spenser  declares  of  himself  that  he  had  utterly  renounced 
popery  since  he  came  to  years  of  discretion.  But  even 
Cromwell's  interference  could  not  save  him  ;  the  soldiers 
were  determined  to  have  his  lands,  and  they  had  them. 

The  manner  in  which  difficulties  were  met  is  thus  re- 
corded in  a  letter  which  was  written  for  publication  in 
London :  — 

"  Athy,  March  4,  1664-5. 
"  I  have  only  to  acquaint  you  that  the  time  prescribed 
for  the  transplantation  of  the  Irish  proprietors,  and  those 
that  have  been  in  arms  and  abettors  of  the  rebellion, 
being  near  at  hand,  the  officers  are  resolved  to  fill  the 
gaols  and  to  seize  them ;  by  which  this  bloody  people 
will  know  that  they  (the  officers)  are  not  degenerated 
from  English  principles ;  though  I  presume  we  shall  be 
very  tender  of  hanging  any  except  leading  men  ;  yet  we 
shall  make  no  scruple  of  sending  them  to  the  West  In- 
dies, where  they  will  serve  for  planters,  and  help  to  plant 
the  plantation  that  general  Venables,  it  is  hoped,  hath 
reduced." 

So  examples  were  made.  Mr.  Edward  Hetherington 
was  hanged  in  Dublin,  on  April  3,  1655,  with  placards 
on  his  breast  and  back,  on  which  was  written,  "  For  not 
transplanting  ; ;;  and  at  the  summer  assizes  of  1658, 
hundreds  were  condemned  to  death  for  the  same  cause, 
but  were  eventually  sent  as  slaves  to  Barbadoes.  The 
miseries  of  those  who  did  transplant  was  scarcely  less 
than  those  of  the  persons  who  were  condemned  to  slav- 
ery. Some  committed  suicide,  some  went  mad,  all  were 
reduced  to  the  direst  distress.  The  nobles  of  the  land 
were  as  cruelly  treated  and  as  much  distrusted  as  the 
poorest  peasant.  The  very  men  who  had  laid  down  their 
arms,  and  signed  articles  of  peace  at  Kilkenny,  were  not 
spared  ;  and  the  excuse  offered  was,  that  the  act  of  Par- 
liament overrode  the  articles. 

Sir  William  Petty  states  that  six  thousand  boys  and 
girls  were  sent  as  slaves  to  the  West  Indies.  Even  girls 
of  noble  birth  were  subjected  to  this  cruel  fate,  for  we 
find  that  when  Daniel  Conway,  a  gentleman  of  property 
in  Clare,  was  banished  the  country  for  harboring  a  priest 


326 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


by  colonel  Ingolsby,  Mr.  Conway  died  of  destitution 
soon  after,  and  three  of  his  daughters,  young  and  beau- 
tiful girls,  were  transported  to  Barbadoes  as  slaves. 

A  court  was  established  for  the  punishment  of  "  rebels 
and  malignants  ;  n  the  former  consisting  of  persons  who 
refused  to  surrender  their  houses  and  lands,  and  the  lat- 
ter being  those  who  would  not  act  contrary  to  their  con- 
scientious convictions  in  religious  matters.  These  courts 
were  called  "  Cromwell's  Slaughter-houses. "  Donnellan, 
who  had  acted  as  solicitor  to  the  regicides,  at  the  trial  of 
Charles  L,  held  the  first  court  at  Kilkenny,  October  4, 
1652. 

As  the  majority  of  the  nation  had  now  been  disposed 
of,  either  by  banishment,  transportation,  or  hanging,  the 
government  had  time  to  turn  their  attention  to  other 
affairs.  The  desolation  of  the  country  was  such,  that  the 
smoke  of  a  fire,  or  the  sign  of  a  habitation,  was  consid- 
ered a  rare  phenomenon.  In  consequence  of  this  depop- 
ulation, wild  beasts  had  multiplied  on  the  lands,  and 
three  "  beasts  ;;  were  especially  noted  for  destruction. 
In  the  Parliament  held  at  Westminster  in  1657,  Major 
Morgan,  member  for  the  county  Wicklow,  enumerated 
these  beasts  thus :  "We  have  three  beasts  to  destroy 
that  lay  burdens  upon  us.  The  first  is  the  wolf,  on  whom 
we  lay  5Z.  a  head  if  a  dog,  and  10Z.  if  a  bitch.  The  sec- 
ond beast  is  a  priest,  on  whose  head  we  lay  101.  ;  if  he 
be  eminent,  more.  The  third  beast  is  a  Tory,  on  whose 
head,  if  he  be  a  public  Tory,  we  lay  20Z. ;  and  forty 
shillings  on  a  private  Tory." 

Wolves  had  increased  so  rapidly,  that  the  officers  who 
left  Ireland  for  Spain,  in  1652,  were  forbidden  to  take 
their  dogs  with  them,  and  were  thus  deprived  of  the 
pleasure  and  the  pride  (for  Irish  dogs  were  famous)  of 
this  consolation  in  their  exile.  Public  hunts  were  or- 
dered, and  every  effort  made  to  keep  down  beasts  of 
prey.  The  number  of  wolves  may  be  estimated  from  the 
fact  that  some  lands  for  which  high  rent  had  always  been 
obtained,  were  now  let  for  a  stipulated  number  of  wolves' 
heads  per  annum.  The  wolves  were,  however,  more 
easily  got  rid  of  than  the  priests.  There  were  parts  of 
the  country  where  it  was  incomparably  more  difficult  to 
hunt  out  a  priest  than  a  wolf ;  so  the  government  gave 
notice,  on  January  6,  1653,  that  all  priests  and  friars 


CONFISCATION  OF  ESTATES. 


327 


who  were  willing  to  transport  themselves,  should  have 
liberty  to  do  so  for  twenty  days.  But  the  priests  and 
friars  had  no  idea  of  leaving  the  country.  Many  came 
to  it  from  the  continental  colleges,  where  they  had  been 
educated  —  for  home  education  was  impossible  —  full  of 
a  burning  zeal  for  martyrdom,  and  having  fully  counted 
the  cost  of  the  mission  which  they  had  undertaken. 
The  people  also  were  invariably  true  to  them.  Long  lists 
of  the  priests  who  were  captured  and  executed  remain, 
but  there  is  not  a  single  Irish  name  in  the  catalogue  of 
the  men  by  whom  they  were  betrayed. 

The  number  of  secular  priests  who  were  victims  to  this 
persecution  cannot  be  correctly  estimated.  The  relig- 
ious orders,  who  were  in  the  habit  of  keeping  an  ac- 
curate chronicle  of  the  entrance  and  decease  of  each 
member,  furnish  fuller  details.  An  official  record,  drawn 
up  in  1656,  gives  the  name  of  thirty  Franciscans  who 
suffered  for  the  faith  ;  and  this  was  before  the  more  had 
severe  search  had  commenced.  The  martyrdom  of  a 
similar  number  of  Dominicans  is  recorded  almost  under 
the  same  date ;  and  Dr.  Burgat  states  that  more  than 
three  hundred  of  the  clergy  were  put  to  death  by  the 
sword  or  on  the  scaffold,  while  more  than  one  thousand 
were  sent  into  exile. 

The  third  "  beast  "  was  the  Tory.  The  Tories  were, 
in  fact,  the  sons  of  men  of  good  families,  who  had  been 
banished  to  Connaught.  They  could  scarcely  be  expected 
to  have  much  respect  for  law  when  they  had  such  prac- 
tical proof  of  the  way  in  which  it  was  administered  in 
Ireland.  They  were,  in  fact,  driven  to  desperation. 
Strangers  had  taken  forcible  possession  of  their  lands 
and  their  property,  and  they  could  scarcely  be  expected 
to  consider  it  an  act  of  theft  if  they  recovered  any  por- 
tion of  them  by  stealth,  or  murder  if  they  assassinated 
the  new  proprietors.  Young  men,  whose  fathers  had 
landed  estates  of  2;000Z.  a  year,  which  were  quietly 
divided  amongst  CromwelPslife-guards,  while  the  propri- 
etor was  sent  out  to  beg,  and  his  daughters  compelled  to 
take  in  washing  or  do  needlework,  could  scarcely  be 
expected  to  take  such  a  change  in  their  circumstances 
very  calmly.  A  man  who  had  been  transplanted  from 
an  estate  worth  2,500Z.  a  year  near  Dublin,  which  his 
family  had  owned  for  four  hundred  years,  and  whose 


328 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


daughters  were  given  the  munificent  gratuity  of  10/. 
apiece  by  the  Council  Board,  and  forbidden  for  the  future 
to  ask  for  any  further  assistance,  might  certainly  plead 
extenuating  circumstances1  if  he  took  to  highway  rob- 
bery. Such  circumstances  as  these  were  common  at  this 
period ;  and  it  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  man 
whose  holding  was  worth  but  40Z.  a  year  felt  the  injus- 
tice, and  resented  the  inhumanity  of  his  expulsion,  quite 
as  much  as  the  nobleman  with  4,O0OZ.  So  the  Tories 
plundered  their  own  property;  and  if  they  could  be  cap- 
tured paid  the  penalty  with  their  lives  ;  but,  when  they 
were  not  caught,  the  whole  district  suffered,  and  some 
one  was  made  a  scapegoat  for  their  crime,  though  it  did 
not  seem  much  to  matter  whether  the  victim  could  be 
charged  with  complicity  or  not.  After  some  years,  when 
even  the  sons  of  the  proprietors  had  become  old  inhab- 
itants, and  the  dispossessed  generation  had  passed  away, 
their  children  were  still  called  Tories.  They  wandered 
from  village  to  village,  or  rather  from  hovel  to  hovel,  and 
received  hospitality  and  respect  from  the  descendants 
of  those  who  had  been  tenants  on  the  estates  of  their 
forefathers,  and  who  still  called  them  gentlemen,  and 
treated  them  as  such,  though  they  possessed  nothing  but 
the  native  dignity,  which  could  not  be  thrown  off,  and 
the  old  title-deeds,  which  were  utterly  worthless,  yet 
not  the  less  carefully  treasured. 

Charles  II.  commenced  his  reign  de  facto  in  1660. 
Some  little  justice  was  shown  towards  those  who  had 
suffered  for  the  royal  cause  in  England.  Those  who  had 
been  expelled  from  their  estates  by  the  Cromwellian  fac- 
tion, were  driven  out  by  the  old  proprietors  ;  but  in  Ire- 
land the  case  was  very  different.  Even  the  faithful  loy- 
alists, who  had  sacrificed  everything  for  the  king,  and 
had  so  freely  assisted  his  necessities  out  of  their  pov- 
erty, were  now  treated  with  contempt,  and  their  claims 
silenced  by  proclamation ;  while  the  men  who  had  been 
most  opposed  to  the  royal  interests,  and  most  cruel  in 

1  Lord  Roche  and  his  daughters  were  compelled  to  go  on  foot  to 
Connaught,  and  his  property  was  divided  amongst  the  English  sol- 
diers. His  wife,  the  viscountess  Roche,  was  hanged  without  a  shadow 
of  evidence  that  she  had  committed  the  crime  of  which  she  was 
accused.  Alderman  Roche's  daughters  had  nothing  to  live  on  but 
their  own  earnings  by  washing  and  needlework;  and  Mr.  Luttrell, 
the  last  case  mentioned  above,  was  allowed  as  a  favor  to  occupy  his 
own  stables  while  preparing  to  transplant. 


THE  BILL  OF  SETTLEMENT. 


329 


their  oppression  of  the  natives,  were  rewarded  and  ad- 
mitted into  favor.  Coote  and  Broghill  were  of  this  class. 
Each  tried  to  lessen  the  other  in  the  opinion  of  their 
royal  master  as  they  ran  the  race  for  favor,  and  each 
boasted  of  services  never  accomplished,  and  of  loyalty 
which  never  existed.  The  two  enemies  of  each  other 
and  of  the  nation  were  now  appointed  lords  justices  of 
Ireland  ;  and  a  Parliament  was  assembled  on  May  8, 
1661,  the  first  meeting  of  the  kind  which  had  been  held 
for  twenty  years. 

The  Catholic,  or  national  interest,  was  certainly  not 
represented  ;  for  there  were  present  seventy-two  Prot- 
estant peers,  and  only  twenty-one  Catholics ;  while  the 
house  of  commons  comprised  two  hundred  and  sixty 
members,  all  of  whom  were  burgesses  except  sixty -four, 
and  the  towns  had  been  so  entirely  peopled  by  Crom- 
well's Puritan  followers,  that  there  could  be  no  doubt 
what  course  they  would  pursue.  An  attempt  was  now 
made  to  expel  the  few  Catholics  who  were  present,  by 
requiring  them  to  take  the  oath  of  supremacy.  The  obse- 
quious Parliament  voted  30,000Z.  to  the  duke  of  Ormonde, 
whose  career  of  duplicity  was  crowned  with  success. 

The  Bill  of  Settlement  was  opposed  by  the  Irish  Catho- 
lics through  their  counsel,  but  their  claims  were  rejected 
and  treated  with  contempt.  Charles  had  told  his  Par- 
liament, on  his  restoration,  that  he  expected  they  would 
have  a  care  of  his  honor,  and  of  the  promise  he  had  made. 
This  promise  had  been  explicitly  renewed  by  Ormonde 
for  the  king,  before  he  left  for  Breda ;  but  the  most  sol- 
emn engagements  were  so  regularly  violated,  when  Irish 
affairs  were  concerned,  that  nothing  else  could  have  been 
expected.  A  court  of  claims  was  at  length  established, 
to  try  the  cases  of  ejectment  which  had  occurred  during 
the  Commonwealth  ;  but  this  exoited  so  much  indigna- 
tion and  alarm  amongst  the  Protestants,  that  all  hope  of 
justice  was  quickly  at  an  end,  and  the  time-serving  Or- 
monde closed  the  court.  The  grand  occupation  of  each 
new  reign,  for  the  last  few  centuries,  appears  to  have 
been  to  undo  what  had  been  done  in  the  preceding 
reigns.  An  Act  of  explanation  was  now  passed,  and  a 
Protestant  militia  raised,  to  satisfy  that  party.  It  was 
provided  by  the  new  act,  that  the  Protestants  were,  in 
the  first  place,  and  especially,  to  be  settled :  that  any 


330 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


doubt  which  arose  should  be  decided  in  their  favor ;  and 
that  no  papist  who,  by  the  qualifications  of  the  former 
act,  had  not  been  adjudged  innocent,  should  at  any 
future  time  be  reputed  innocent,  or  entitled  to  claim  any 
lands  or  settlements.  It  will  be  remembered  that  Or- 
monde had  cut  short  the  sittings  of  the  court  to  satisfy 
Protestant  clamor ;  in  consequence  of  this,  more  than 
three  thousand  Catholic  claimants  were  condemned  to 
forfeit  their  estates,  without  even  the  shadow  of  an  in- 
quiry, but  with  the  pretence  of  having  justice  done  to 
them,  or,  as  Leland  has  expressed  it,  "  without  the  jus- 
tice granted  to  the  vilest  criminal  —  that  of  a  fair  and 
equal  trial. " 

So  many  complaints  were  made  of  Ormonde's  admin- 
istration, that  he  was  now  removed  for  a  time.  He  was 
succeeded  by  lord  Berkeley,  in  May,  1670,  a  nobleman 
whose  honest  and  impartial  government  earned  him  the 
respect  of  all  who  were  not  interested  in  upholding  a 
contrary  line  of  conduct.  The  Catholics  offered  him  an 
address,  which  was  signed  by  two  prelates,  who  held  a 
prominent  position,  not  only  in  their  Church,  but  also  in 
the  history  of  the  period  ;  these  were  Dr.  Plunkett,  arch- 
bishop of  Armagh,  and  Dr.  Talbot,  archbishop  of  Dublin. 
Dr.  Plunkett  had  been  archbishop  of  Armagh  since  the 
death  of  Dr.  O'Reilly  in  1669.  He  belonged  to  the  noble 
family  of  Fingall,  but  he  was  more  respected  for  his  vir- 
tues and  his  office  than  for  his  rank.  He  was  accused 
of  being  in  correspondence  with  the  French,  and  was 
seized  on  December  6,  1679.  Even  Ormonde  wished  to 
have  spared  him,  so  inoffensive  and  peaceful  had  been 
his  life.  He  was  arraigned  at  the  Dundalk  assizes  ;  but 
although  every  man  on  the  grand  jury  was  a  Protestant, 
from  whom,  at  least,  less  partiality  might  be  expected 
towards  him  than  from  members  of  his  own  church,  the 
perjured  witnesses  refused  to  come  forward.  Indeed, 
the  prelate  himself  had  such  confidence  in  his  innocence, 
andin'the  honorable  dealingof  his  Protestant  fellow-coun- 
trymen, when  their  better  judgment  was  not  bewildered  • 
by  fanaticism,  that  he  declared  in  London  he  would  put 
himself  on  trial  in  Ireland  before  any  Protestant  jury  who 
knew  him,  and  who  knew  the  men  who  swore  against 
him,  without  the  slightest  doubt  of  the  result. 

Jones,  the  Protestant  bishop  of  Meath,  was,  unfortu- 


TRIAL  OF  DR.  PLUNKETT. 


331 


nately  for  himself,  influenced  by  fanaticism.  He  had 
served  in  Cromwell's  army,  and  had  all  that  rancorous 
hatred  of  the  Catholic  Church  so  characteristic  of  the 
low  class  from  whom  the  Puritan  soldiery  were  drawn. 
He  was  determined  that  the  archbishop  should  be  con- 
demned ;  and  as  men  could  not  be  found  to  condemn 
him  in  Ireland,  he  induced  lord  Shaftesbury  to  have  him 
taken  to  London.  The  archbishop  was  removed  to  New- 
gate, about  the  close  of  October,  1680,  and  so  closely 
confined,  that  none  of  his  friends  could  have  access  to 
him.  He  spent  his  time  in  prayer,  and  his  gaolers  were 
amazed  at  his  cheerfulness  and  resignation.  His  trial 
took  place  on  June  8,  1G81  ;  but  he  was  not  allowed  time 
to  procure  the  necessary  witnesses,  and  the  court  would 
not  allow  certain  records  to  be  put  in,  which  would  have 
proved  the  character  of  his  accusers.  Six  of  the  most 
eminent  English  lawyers  were  arrayed  against  him. 
The  legal  arrangements  of  the  times  deprived  him  of  the 
assistance  of  counsel,  but  they  did  not  require  the  judges 
to  help  out  the  men  who  swore  against  him  :  this,  how- 
ever, they  did.  He  was  of  course  condemned,  and  suf- 
fered with  such  patience  and  joy  that  even  his  enemies 
were  obliged  eventually  to  do  justice  to  his  memory. 

Colonel  Talbot  was  raised  to  the  peerage  as  earl  of  Tyr- 
connel,  and  appointed  commander  to  the  forces  with  an 
authority  independent  of  the,  lord  lieutenant.  James 
commenced  his  reign  by  proclaiming  his  desire  for  re- 
ligious liberty.  But  the  age  was  not  yet  sufficiently 
advanced  for  man  to  grant  his  fellow-man  the  right 
which  he  himself  exercised  of  liberty  of  conscience. 

Individually,  James  may  not  have  been  much  behind 
the  age  in  opinion  on  this  subject,  but  liberty  of  con- 
science was  necessary  for  himself.  He  was  a  Catholic, 
and  he  made  no  secret  of  his  religion  ;  he  was,  therefore, 
obliged  from  this  motive,  if  from  no  other,  to  accord  the 
same  boon  to  his  subjects.  The  Quakers  were  set  free 
in  England,  and  the  Catholics  were  set  free  in  Ireland. 
But  the  Puritan  faction,  who  had  commenced  by  fight- 
ing for  liberty  of  conscience  for  themselves,  and  who 
ended  by  fighting  to  deny  liberty  of  conscience  to  others, 
were  quite  determined  that  neither  Quakers  nor  Catho- 
lics should  worship  God  as  they  believed  themselves 
bound  to  do.    Such  intolerance,  unhappily,  was  not 


332 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


altogether  confined  to  the  illiterate.  Coke,  in  a  previ- 
ous generation,  had  declared  that  it  was  felony  even  to 
counsel  the  king  to  tolerate  Catholics ;  and  Usher,  that 
it  was  a  deadly  sin.  The  king  had  neither  the  good 
sense  nor  the  delicacy  of  feeling  to  guide  him  through 
these  perils.  His  difficulties,  and  the  complications 
which  ensued,  belong  to  the  province  of  the  English  his- 
torian, but  they  were  not  the  less  felt  in  Ireland. 

The  Protestants  professed  to  be  afraid  of  being  mas- 
sacred by  the  Catholics ;  the  Catholics  apprehended  a 
massacre  from  the  Protestants.  Catholics  were  now 
admitted  to  the  army,  to  the  bar,  and  to  the  senate. 
Protestants  declared  this  an  infringement  of  their  rights, 
and  forgot  how  recently  they  had  expelled  their  Catho- 
lic fellow-subjects,  not  merely  from  honors  and  emolu- 
ments, but  even  from  their  altars  and  their  homes. 

An  event  now  occurred  which  brought  affairs  to  a 
crisis.  The  king's  second  wife,  Mary  of  Modena,  gave 
him  an  heir,  and  the  heir  appeared  likely  to  live  (a.  d. 
1688).  William  of  Orange,  who  had  long  flattered  him- 
self that  he  should  one  day  wear  the  crown  of  England, 
saw  that  no  time  should  be  lost  if  he  intended  to  secure 
the  prize,  and  commenced  his  preparations  with  all  the 
ability  and  with  all  the  duplicity  for  which  his  career  has 
been  admired  by  one  party  and  denounced  by  the  other, 
according  as  political  and  religious  opinions  viewed  the 
deceit  under  the  strong  light  of  the  ability,  or  the  ability 
under  the  glare  of  the  deceit.  The  Protestant  party 
could  not  but  see  all  that  was  to  be  apprehended  if  a 
Catholic  heir  should  succeed  to  the  throne,  and  they 
sacrificed  their  loyalty  to  their  interests,  if  not  to  their 
principles. 

William  arrived  in  England  on  the  5th  of  November, 
1688.  He  professed  to  have  come  for  the  purpose  of 
investigating  the  rumors  which  had  been  so  industriously 
circulated  respecting  the  birth  of  the  heir,  who  had 
barred  his  pretensions,  and  to  induce  the  king  to  join 
the  league  which  had  been  just  formed  against  France  ; 
but  he  took  care  to  come  provided  with  an  armament, 
which  gave  the  lie  to  his  diplomatic  pretensions ;  and 
as  soon  as  he  had  been  joined  by  English  troops,  of  whose 
disaffection  he  was  well  aware,  his  real  motive  was  no 
longer  concealed.    James  fled  to  France,  whither  he  had 


FLIGHT  OP  KING  JAMES  TO  FRANCE. 


333 


already  sent  his  queen  and  heir.  Still  there  was  a  large 
party  in  England  who  had  not  yet  declared  openly  for 
the  usurper  ;  and  had  not  James  entirely  alienated  the 
affection  of  his  subjects  by  his  tyrannical  treatment  of 
the  Protestant  bishops,  his  conduct  towards  the  univer- 
sity of  Oxford,  and  the  permission,  if  not  the  sanction, 
which  he  gave  to  Jeffreys  in  his  bloody  career,  there  can 
be  little  doubt  that  William  would  have  had  to  fight  for 
the  crown  on  English  ground  as  he  did  on  Irish. 


334 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

RELIGION— LAWS— CUSTOMS— CIVILIZATION  AND  SO- 
CIAL STATE  OF  IRELAND  IN  THE  FIFTEENTH,  SIX- 
TEENTH, AND  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURIES. 

The  apostasy  of  the  English  nation  during  the  reign 
of  Henry  VIII.  had  but  little  effect  upon  the  Irish  nation 
theologically ;  practically,  it  served  not  a  little  to  in- 
crease the  ill  feeling  between  the  two  countries,  since  it 
opened  up  a  new  ground  for  dispute,  and  hence  a  new 
source  of  bitterness.  Religious  rancor  was  now  added 
to  party  feeling,  and  cruel  persecutions  still  further 
widened  the  breach  already  but  too  extensive.  The  ieon- 
oclasm  of  the  Reformers  and  the  barbarity  of  the  soldiers 
led  to  the  destruction  of  most  of  the  churches  in  Ireland, 
some  of  which  were  of  rare  architectural  beauty,  and  had 
been  erected  by  the  Anglo-Norman  lords.  Under  such 
circumstances  learning  could  not  be  expected  to  flourish. 
The  Irish  priests  were  obliged  to  go  to  the  Continent  for 
education,  and  were  taught  little  more  than  what  was 
necessary  for  their  ministrations.  On  their  return  to 
Ireland  they  were  compelled  to  remain  in  strict  conceal- 
ment, and  often  to  live  for  years  in  the  woods ;  hence 
they  could  not  in  any  way  promote  literature,  however 
much  they  might  wish  to  do  so.  There  were,  however, 
some  few  priests  who  were  obliged  to  remain  on  the 
Continent,  and  they  have  written  sufficient  to  prove  that 
there,  at  least,  the  Irish  ecclesiastic  was  not  indifferent 
to  literary  culture. 

The  Four  Masters,  whose  "  Annals  "  are  the  standard 
repository  of  Irish  history,  were  Franciscan  monks,  who 
wrote  a.  d.  1632-1636.  Their  work  obtained  the  name 
of  the  "  Annals  of  the  Four  Masters  "  because  four  friars 
were  principally  employed  in  its  compilation.  The  chief 
of  these  writers,  Michael  O'Clery,  was  of  noble  family, 


RELIGION. 


335 


but  entered  the  order  of  St.  Francis,  while  still  young", 
as  a  lay  brother.  In  the  year  1627  he  travelled  through 
Ireland,  collecting  materials  for  father  Hugh  Ward,  also 
a  Franciscan  friar,  and  guardian  of  the  convent  of  St. 
Antony,  at  Louvain,  who  was  preparing  a  series  of  lives 
of  Irish  saints ;  and  it  was  probably  then  that  the  idea 
occurred  to  him  of  writing  the  Annals  of  Ireland.  He 
spent  ten  years  visiting  the  libraries  on  the  Continent, 
whither  Irish  manuscripts  had  been  dispersed,  and  col- 
lecting all  that  could  be  found  at  home.  His  magnificent 
work  has  been  published  within  the  last  few  years,  with 
a  translation  and  most  valuable  notes,  by  the  late  Dr. 
O'Donovan.  The  work  as  published  consists  of  eight 
large  quarto  volumes,  each  volume  containing  four  or 
five  hundred  pages.  Unfortunately,  the  age  was  not 
critical,  and  the  Four  Masters  have  omitted  all  but  the 
most  general  reference  to  their  authorities.  There  is  no 
doubt,  however,  that  they  had  access  to  valuable  author- 
ities which  have  since  disappeared. 

A  history  of  Ireland,  compiled  also  from  ancient  sources, 
but  on  a  very  much  smaller  scale,  was  written  by  a  priest 
named  Keating,  while  he  lay  concealed  in  the  Galtee 
mountains. 

John  Lynch,  the  bishop  of  Killala,  and  the  indefatiga- 
ble and  successful  impugner  of  Cambrensis,  was  another 
literary  luminary  of  the  age.  His  career  is  a  fair  sam- 
ple of  the  extraordinary  difficulties  experienced  by  the 
Irish  in  their  attempts  to  cultivate  intellectual  pursuits, 
and  of  their  undaunted  courage  in  attaining  their  end. 
Usher  has  himself  recorded  his  visit  to  Galway,  where 
he  found  Lynch,  then  a  mere  youth,  teaching  a  school 
of  humanity  (a.  d.  1622).  "  We  had  proofe,"  he  says, 
"  during  our  continuance  in  that  citie,  how  his  scholars 
proffited  under  him,  by  the  verses  and  orations  which 
they  brought  us."  Usher  then  relates  how  he  seriously 
advised  the  young  schoolmaster  to  conform  to  the  pop- 
ular religion  ;  but,  as  Lynch  declined  to  comply  with  his 
wishes,  he  was  bound  over  under  sureties  of  400L  ster- 
ling to  "  forbear  teaching."  The  tree  of  knowledge  was, 
in  truth,  forbidden  fruit,  and  guarded  sedulously  by  the 
fiery  sword  of  the  law.  Florence  Conry,  archbishop  of 
Tuam,  the  founder  of  the  Irish  college  of  Louvain,  was 
one  of  the  first  to  suggest  and  to  carry  out  the  idea  of 


336 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


supplying  Irish  youth  with  the  means  of  education  on 
the  Continent,  which  they  were  denied  at  home.  It  is 
a  fact,  almost  unexampled  in  the  history  of  nations,  that 
a  whole  race  should  have  been  thus  denied  the  means  of 
acquiring  even  the  elements  of  learning,  and  equally 
unexampled  is  the  zeal  with  which  the  nation  sought  to 
procure  abroad  the  advantages  from  which  they  were  so 
cruelly  debarred  at  home.  At  Louvain  some  of  the  most 
distinguished  Irish  scholars  were  educated.  An  Irish 
press  was  established  within  its  halls,  which  was  kept 
constantly  employed,  and  from  it  proceeded  some  of  the 
most  valuable  works  of  the  age,  as  well  as  a  scarcely  less 
important  literature  for  the  people,  in  the  form  of  short 
treatises  on  religion  or  history.  Colleges  were  also 
established  at  Douay,  Lisle,  Antwerp,  Tournay,  and  St. 
Omers,  principally  through  the  exertions  of  Christopher 
Cusack,  a  learned  priest  of  the  diocese  of  Meath.  Car- 
dinal Ximenes  founded  an  Irish  college  at  Lisbon,  and 
cardinal  Henriquez  founded  a  similar  establishment  at 
Evora. 

Trinity  College,  Dublin,  was  founded  during  the  reign 
of  queen  Elizabeth.  Sir  John  Perrot  had  proposed  to 
convert  St.  Patrick's  cathedral  into  an  university ;  but 
Loftus,  the  Protestant  archbishop,  would  not  allow  it, 
because,  according  to  Leland,  "  he  was  particularly 
interested  in  the  livings  of  this  church,  by  leases  and 
estates,  which  he  had  procured  for  himself  and  his  kins- 
men. "  When  the  deputy,  whom  he  cordially  hated, 
had  been  withdrawn,  he  proposed  a  plan  which  gave  him 
the  credit  of  the  undertaking  without  any  expenditure 
on  his  part.  The  site  he  selected  was  in  what  was  then 
called  Hogges-green,  now  College-green  ;  and  the  place 
was  the  "  scite,  ambit,  and  presinct ,;  of  the  Augustinian 
monastery  of  All  Saints,  which  had  been  founded  by 
Dermod  MacMurrough,  king  of  Leinster,  a.  d.  1166.  Dr. 
Loftus,  after  obtaining  this  grant,  and  such  rents  as  still 
belonged  to  the  old  Catholic  monastery,  endeavored  to 
raise  a  subscription  to  supply  the  further  funds  still  nec- 
essary to  complete  the  work.  In  this  he  signally  failed  ; 
for  those  to  whom  he  applied  excused  themselves  on  the 
plea  of  poverty.  Other  funds  were  therefore  sought  for, 
and  easily  obtained  ;  and  the  revenues  of  some  sup- 
pressed Catholic  houses  in  Kerry,  Mayo,  and  Ulster, 


FOUNDATION  OF  TRINITY  COLLEGE. 


337 


were  taken  to  endow  and  erect  the  Protestant  univer- 
sity. 

Usher  and  Ware  were,  undoubtedly,  the  most  learned 
men  of  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries ;  and, 
considering  the  state  of  political  and  religious  excite- 
ment in  which  they  lived  and  wrote,  it  is  much  to  their 
credit  that  they  did  not  dip  their  pens  still  deeper  into 
the  gall  of  controversy  and  prejudice.  Usher  was  one 
of  the  Hibernis  ipsis  Iftberniores,  for  his  family  came 
to  Ireland  with  king  John ;  but  he  admired  and  wrote 
Celtic  history  with  the  enthusiasm  of  a  Celt,  and  he  gath- 
ered materials  for  other  men's  work  with  patient  indus- 
try, however  he  may  have  allowed  party  spirit  to  influ- 
ence and  warp  his  own  judgment  in  their  use.  Usher 
was  Ware's  most  ardent  patron.  Habits  of  indefati- 
gable research  did  for  him,  in  some  degree,  what  natural 
genius  had  done  for  others.  Nor  was  he  slow  to  recog- 
nize or  avail  himself  of  native  talent ;  and  there  can  be 
no  doubt,  that  if  he  had  lived  a  few  years  longer  after 
his  acquaintance  with  MacFirbis,  Irish  literature  would 
have  benefited  considerably  by  the  united  efforts  of  the 
man  of  power,  who  was  devoted  to  learning,  and  the 
man  of  gifts,  who  had  the  abilities  which  neither  posi- 
tion nor  wealth  can  purchase. 

Usher  was  at  heart  a  Puritan  ;  and,  however  learned 
himself,  he  seems  to  have  been  indifferent  to  the  neces- 
sity of  superior  education,  as  well  as  regular  ordination, 
for  his  clergy.  In  1623  Dr.  Blair  was  invited  to  Ireland 
by  lord  Clannaboy,  to  take  the  living  of  Bangor,  vacated 
by  the  death  of  the  Rev.  John  Gibson,  M  sence  Reforma- 
cione  from  popery  the  first  deane  of  Down.' 7  Dr.  Blair 
objected  both  to  episcopal  government  and  to  use  the  Eng- 
lish liturgy ;  yet  he  "  procured  a  free  and  safe  entry  to  the 
holy  ministry,"  which,  according  to  his  own  account,  was 
accomplished  thus.  His  patron,  lord  Clannaboy,  informed 
"  the  bishop  Echlin  how  opposite  I  was  to  episcopacy 
and  their  liturgy,  and  had  the  influence  to  procure  my 
admission  on  easy  and  honorable  terms."  At  his  inter- 
view with  the  bishop  it  was  arranged  that  Dr.  Blair  was 
to  receive  ordination  from  Mr.  Cunningham  and  the 
neighboring  clergy,  and  the  bishop  was  "to  come  in 
among  them  in  no  other  relation  than  a  presbyter." 


338 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


These  are  the  bishop's  own  words ;  and  his  reason  for 
ordaining  at  all  was:  "I  must  ordain  you,  else  neither 
I  nor  you  can  answer  the  law,  nor  brook  the  land."  In 
1627  Blair  had  an  interview  with  archbishop  Usher,  and 
he  says  "  they  were  not  so  far  from  agreeing  as  he 
feared. "  "  He  admitted  that  all  those  things  (episcopacy 
and  a  form  of  prayer)  ought  to  have  been  removed,  but 
the  constitution  and  laws  of  the  place  and  time  would 
not  permit  that  to  be  done."  A  few  years  later,  Mr. 
John  Livingstone  thus  relates  his  experience  on  similar 
subjects.  He  had  been  appointed  also  by  lord  Clanna- 
boy  to  the  parish  of  Killinchy  :  and,  because  it  was  need- 
ful that  he  should  be  ordained  to  the  ministry,  and  the 
bishop  of  Down,  in  whose  diocese  Killinchy  was,  being 
a  corrupt  and  timorous  man,  and  would  require  some 
engagement,  therefore  my  lord  Clannaboy  sent  some  with 
me,  and  wrote  to  Mr.  Andrew  Knox,  bishop  of  Raphoe, 
who  told  me  he  knew  my  errand,  and  that  I  came  to  him 
because  I  had  scruples  against  episcopacy  and  ceremo- 
nies according  as  Mr.  Josiah  Welsh  and  some  others  had 
done  before  ;  and  that  he  thought  his  old  age  was  pro- 
longed for  little  other  purpose  than-  to  perform  such  cer- 
emonies." It  was  then  arranged  that  he  should  be 
ordained  as  Dr.  Blair  and  others  had  been.  The  bishop 
gave  him  the  book  of  ordination,  and  said,  "though  he 
durst  not  answer  it  to  the  state,"  that  he  might  draw  a 
line  over  anything  he  did  not  approve  of,  and  that  it 
should  not  be  read.  "  But/7  concludes  Mr.  Livingstone, 
"  I  found  that  it  had  been  so  marked  by  some  others  be- 
fore that  I  needed  not  mark  anything  ;  so  the  Lord  was 
pleased  to  carry  that  business  far  beyond  anything  that 
I  have  thought  or  almost  ever  desired." 

The  whole  subject  of  law  is  so  intimately  connected 
with  Irish  history  after  the  English  invasion,  that  it  can 
scarcely  be  treated  as  a  distinct  subject.  Mention  has 
been  already  made  of  the  principal  acts  of  Parliament, 
and  their  effects.  Sir  Philip  Sidney  made  great  efforts 
to  abolish  the  exactions  of  coigne  and  livery,  which  were, 
in  fact,  a  tax  in  kind  on  the  tenant  class  for  the  support 
of  the  standing  army.  This  tax,  not  being  defined  (for 
such  a  tax  could  not  be  defined),  was  necessarily  a  source 
of  great  oppression.  It  was,  however,  extremely  diffi- 
cult to  substitute  a  money  tax,  or  to  get  rent  paid  in 


LAWS  AND  ARCHITECTURE. 


339 


money,  but  even  the  attempt  to  do  so  at  once  raised  the 
price  of  land. 

Efforts  were  also  constantly  made  to  abrogate  the  rise 
of  the  Brehon  Laws,  and  in  1577  Sir  William  Drury  hung 
aBrehon  of  0 'Mores.  This,  however,  was  not  the  best 
method  of  teaching  the  people  to  discard  their  ancient 
customs.  It  is  doubtful  whether  any  Parliament  was 
called  in  Ireland  during  the  reign  of  Edward  IV.  ;  but 
there  is  certainly  a  letter  extant  from  that  prince,  dated 
from  Windsor,  August  5,  a.d.  1550,  empowering  the  lord 
deputy  to  summon  a  house.  Parliaments  were  held  dur- 
ing the  reign  of  queen  Elizabeth. 

The  earliest  known  testaments  bear  date  1388  and 
1440.  The  Prerogative  Court  does  not  possess  any  will 
earlier  than  1536. 

Ecclesiastical  architecture  could  not  be  expected  to 
flourish  in  the  unsettled  state  of  the  country.  Military 
architecture  was  confined  to  the  erection  of  castles  and 
fortresses,  in  which  strength  was  the  one  great  feature. 
Dublin  castle  was  repaired  and  beautified  by  Sir  Henry 
Sidney  about  the  year  1567  ;  before  that  time  it  had  fal- 
len into  great  decay.  In  the  year  1620  the  cross  of  the 
council-chamber  and  part  of  the  wall  fell  down.  The 
estimate  for  repairing  and  rebuilding  amounted  to  1,349Z. 
85. 

The  old  eustom-house  stood  on  the  site  of  houses  now 
comprised  in  that  part  of  Dublin  known  as  Wellington 
Quay.  Here  a  locality  was  selected,  in  the  reign  of 
James  I.,  for  the  purpose  of  "  erecting  cranes  and  mak- 
ing wharves. "  This  street,  now  so  busy  and  populous, 
was  then  in  the  suburbs,  and  is  described  in  the  lease, 
a.  d.  1620,  as  "  a  certain  parcel  of  ground,  lying  in  or 
near  Dame  street,  in  the  suburbs  of  the  city  of  Dublin." 
A  new  custom-house  was  erected  about  the  period  of 
the  Restoration,  with  the  addition  of  a  council-chamber, 
where  the  privy  council  and  committees  of  the  house  of 
commons  were  accustomed  to  assemble.  By  an  order 
of  the  privy  council,  September  19,  1662,  the  custom- 
house quay  was  appointed  the  sole  place  for  landing  and 
lading  the  exports  and  imports  of  the  city  of  Dublin. 
In  1683  the  public  exchange  of  Dublin  was  transferred 
from  Cork  House  to  theTholsel,  a  building  erected  early 
in  the  reigu  of  Edward  II.,  and  described  by  Camden  as 


340 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


built  of  hewn  stone.  Here  the  mayor  was  elected  on 
Michaelmas  day,  and  the  citizens  held  their  public  meet- 
ings. A  clock  was  set  up  in  1560,  no  doubt  very  much 
to  the  admiration  of  the  citizens.  A  new  Tholsel  or  city 
hall  was  erected  in  1683,  on  the  same  site,  and  there 
was  a  "  change/7  where  merchants  met  every  day,  as  in 
the  Royal  Exchange  in  London.  Public  dinners  were 
given  here  also  with  great  magnificence ;  but,  from  the 
marshy  nature  of  the  ground  on  which  the  building  had 
been  set  up,  it  fell  to  decay  in  1797,  and  a  new  sessions- 
house  was  erected  in  Green  Street. 

In  the  sixteenth  century  the  Irish  sent  raw  and  tanned 
hides,  furs,  and  woollens  to  Antwerp,  taking  in  exchange 
sugar,  spices,  and  mercery.  The  trade  with  France  and 
Spain  for  wines  was  very  considerable;  fish  was  the 
commodity  exchanged  for  this  luxury ;  and  even  in  1553 
Philip  II.  of  Spain  paid  l,O0OZ.  yearly  —  a  large  sum  for 
that  period — to  obtain  liberty  for  his  subjects  to  fish  upon 
the  north  coast  of  Ireland.  Stafford,  in  speaking  of  the 
capture  of  Dunboy  castle,  says,  that  O'Sullivan  made 
500Z.  a  year  by  the  duties  which  were  paid  to  him  by 
foreign  fishermen,  "  although  the  duties  they  paid  was 
very  little. ?; 

Stanihurst  has  described  a  fair  in  Dublin,  and  another 
in  Waterford,  where  he  says  the  wares  were  "  dog- 
cheape."  These  fairs  continued  for  six  days,  and  mer- 
chants came  to  them  from  Flanders  and  France,  as  well 
as  from  England. 

After  the  plantation  of  Ulster,  Irish  commerce  was 
allowed  to  flourish  for  a  while  ;  the  revenue  of  the  crown 
doubled  ;  and  statesmen  should  have  been  convinced 
that  an  unselfish  policy  was  the  best  for  both  countries. 
But  there  will  always  be  persons  whose  private  interests 
clash  with  the  public  good,  and  who  have  influence 
enough  to  secure  their  own  advantage  at  the  expense  of 
the  multitude.  Curiously  enough,  the  temporary  pros- 
perity of  Ireland  was  made  a  reason  for  forbidding  the 
exports  which  had  produced  it.  A  declaration  was  is- 
sued by  the  English  government  in  163*7,  which  expressly 
states  this,  and  places  every  possible  bar  to  its  contin- 
uance. The  Cromwellian  settlement,  however,  acted 
more  effectually  than  any  amount  of  prohibitions  or  acts 
of  Parliament,  and  trade  was  entirely  ruined  by  it  for  a 


TRADE  AND  COMMERCE. 


341 


time.  When  it  again  revived,  and  live  cattle  began  to 
be  exported  in  quantities  to  England,  the  exportation 
was  strictly  forbidden.  The  duke  of  Ormonde,  who  pos- 
sessed immense  tracts  of  land  in  Ireland,  presented  a 
petition,  with  his  own  hands,  against  the  obnoxious 
measure,  and  cleverly  concluded  it  with  the  very  words 
used  by  Charles  himself,  in  the  declaration  for  the  settle- 
ment of  Ireland  at  the  Restoration,  trusting  that  his 
majesty  "  would  not  suffer  his  good  subjects  to  weep  in 
one  kingdom  when  they  rejoiced  in  another. " 

Rearing  and  tending  cattle  was  the  principal  employ- 
ment of  the  people,  as,  indeed,  it  always  has  been. 
There  were  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  employed  in 
this  way,  and  one  hundred  thousand  in  agriculture. 
"Tailors  and  their  wives  "  are  the  next  highest  figure  — 
forty-five  thousand.  Smiths  and  apprentices,  shoemak- 
ers and  apprentices,  are  given  at  the  same  figure  —  twen- 
ty-two thousand  five  hundred.  Millers  and  their  wives 
only  numbered  one  thousand,  and  the  fishery  trade  the 
same.  The  wool-workers  and  their  wives,  thirty  thou- 
sand ;  but  the  number  of  alehouse-keepers  is  almost  in- 
credible. In  Dublin,  where  there  were  only  four  thousand 
families,  there  were,  at  one  time,  one  thousand  one  hun- 
dred and  eighty  alehouses,  and  ninety-one  public  brew- 
houses.  The  proportion  was  equally  great  throughout 
the  country.  The  linen  trade  had  been  encouraged,  and, 
indeed,  mainly  established  in  Ireland,  by  the  duke  of 
Ormonde.  An  English  writer  says  that  two  hundred 
thousand  pounds  of  yarn  were  sent  annually  to  Manches- 
ter, a  supply  which  seemed  immense  in  that  age;  and 
yet  in  the  present  day,  would  hardly  keep  the  hands  em- 
ployed for  forty-eight  hours.  A  political  economist  gives 
the  "  unsettledness  of  the  country  "  as  the  first  of  a  se- 
ries of  reasons  why  trade  did  not  flourish  in  Ireland,  and, 
amongst  other  remedies,  suggests  sumptuary  laws  and 
a  tax  upon  celibacy,  the  latter  to  weigh  quite  equally  on 
each  sex.  It  would  appear  from  this,  that  early  mar- 
riages were  not  as  frequent  then  as  now. 

The  first  post-office  was  established  in  1656  in  High 
Street.  For  this  the  nation  appears  to  have  been  indi- 
rectly indebted  to  Shane  O'Neill,  of  whose  proceedings 
her  majesty  queen  Elizabeth  was  anxious  to  be  cognizant 
with  as  little  delay  as  possible.    In  1656,  it  having  been 


342 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


found  that  the  horses  of  the  military,  to  whom  postal 
communications  had  been  confided  previously,  were 
"  much  wearied,  and  his  highness'  affayres  much  preju- 
diced for  want  of  a  post-office  to  carry  publi(jue  letters," 
Evan  Vaughan  was  employed  to  arrange  postal  communi- 
cations, and  was  made  deputy  postmaster.  Major  Swift 
was  the  postmaster  at  Holyhead,  and  he  was  allowed 
100Z.  a  year  for  the  maintenance  of  four  boatmen,  added 
to  the  packet-boats,  at  the  rate  of  8 d.  per  diem,  and  18s. 
per  month  for  wages.  Post-houses  were  established  in 
the  principal  towns  in  Ireland  about  the  year  1670,  by 
means  of  which,  for  8d.  or  12c?.,  letters  could  be  con- 
veyed, twice  a  week,  to  the  "  remotest  parts  of  Ireland/7 
and  which  afforded  "  the  conveniency  of  keeping  good 
correspondence." 

In  rnediseval  cities  the  castle  was  the  centre  round 
which  the  town  extended  itself.  Dublin  was  no  excep- 
tion to  this  rule,  and  in  this  century  we  find  High  Street 
and  Castle  Street  the  fashionable  resorts.  The  nobility 
came  thither  for  society,  the  tradesmen  for  protection. 
Castle  Street  appears  to  have  been  the  favorite  haunt  of 
the  bookselling  fraternity,  and  Eliphud  Dobson  (his  name 
speaks  for  his  religious  views)  was  the  most  wealthy 
bookseller  and  publisher  of  his  day.  His  house  was  called 
the  Stationers'  Arms,  which  flourished  in  the  reign  of 
James  II.  The  Commonwealth  was  arbitrary  in  its  re- 
quirements, and  commanded  that  the  printer  (there  was 
then  only  one)  should  submit  any  works  he  printed  to 
the  Clerk  of  the  Council,  to  receive  his  imprimatur  be- 
fore publishing  the  same.  The  Williamites  were  equally 
tyrannical,  for  Malone  was  dismissed  by  them  from  the 
office  of  State  Printer,  and  tried  in  the  Queen's  Bench, 
with  John  Bowling,  in  1707,  for  publishing  "  A  Manuall 
of  Devout  Prayers,"  for  the  use  of  Roman  Catholics. 

The  inventory  of  the  household  effects  of  lord  Grey, 
taken  in  1540,  affords  us  ample  information  on  the  sub- 
ject of  dress  and  household  effects.  The  list  commences 
with  "  eight  tun  and  a  pype  of  Gaskoyne  wine,"  and  the 
"long  board  in  the  hall."  A  great  advance  had  been 
made  since  we  described  the  social  life  of  the  eleventh 
century ;  and  the  refinements  practised  at  meals  were 
not  among  the  least  of  many  improvements.  A  bord- 
clothe  was  spread  on  the  table,  though  forks  were  not 


SOCIAL  LIFE  AND  CUSTOMS. 


343 


used  until  the  reign  of  James  I.  They  came  from  Italy, 
to  which  country  we  owe  many  of  the  new  fashions 
introduced  in  the  seventeenth  century.  In  The  Boke  of 
Gurtosye  there  are  directions  given  not  to  "foule  the 
bord-clothe  w}7th  the  knyfe ;  "  and  Ben  Jonson,  in  his 
comedy  of  "  The  Devil  is  an  Ass,"  alludes  to  the  intro- 
duction of  forks,  and  the  consequent  disuse  of  napkins. 
There  were  also  cups  of  M  assaye,"  from  which  the  cup- 
bearer was  obliged  to  drink  before  his  master,  to  prove 
that  there  was  no  poison  in  the  liquor  which  he  used. 
The  cupboard  was  covered  with  a  carpet,  of  which  lord 
Grey  had  two.  These  carpets,  or  tablecovers,  were 
more  or  less  costly,  according  to  the  rank  and  state  of 
the  owner.  His  lordship  had  also  "two  chares,  two 
fiformes,  and  two  stooles."  Chairs  were  decidedly  a  lux- 
ury at  that  day.  Although  the  name  is  of  Anglo-Nor- 
man origin,  they  did  not  come  into  general  use  until  a 
late  period  ;  and  it  was  considered  a  mark  of  disrespect 
to  superiors,  for  young  persons  to  sit  in  their  presence 
on  anything  but  hard  benches  or  stools.  The  Anglo- 
Saxons  called  their  seats  sett  and  stol,  a  name  which  we 
still  preserve  in  the  modern  stool.  The  hall  was  orna- 
mented with  rich  hangings,  and  there  was  generally  a 
traves,  which  could  be  used  as  a  curtain  or  screen  to 
form  a  temporary  partition.  The  floor  was  strewn  with 
rushes,  which  were  not  removed  quite  so  frequently  as 
would  have  been  desirable,  considering  that  they  were 
made  the  repository  of  the  refuse  of  the  table.  Perfumes 
were  consequently  much  used,  and  we  are  not  surprised 
to  find  "  a  casting  bottel,  dooble  gilte,  for  rosewater," 
in  the  effects  of  a  viceroy  of  the  sixteenth  century.  Such 
things  were  more  matters  of  necessity  than  of  luxury  at 
even  a  later  period. 

The  courtiers  of  Charles  II.  compensated  themselves 
for  the  stern  restraints  of  puritanism,  by  giving  way  to 
the  wildest  excesses  in  dress  and  manners.  Enormous 
periwigs  were;  introduced,  and  it  became  the  fashion  for 
a  man  of  ton  to  be  seen  combing  them  on  the  Mall  or  at 
the  theatre.  The  hat  was  worn  with  a  broad  brim  orna- 
mented with  feathers;  a  falling  band  of  the  richest  lace 
adorned  the  neck ;  the  short  cloak  was  edged  deeply 
with  gold  lace  ;  the  doublet  was  ornamented  in  a  simi- 
lar manner  —  it  was  long  and  swelled  out  from  the  waist ; 


344 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


but  the  "  petticoat  breeches"  were  the  glory  of  the  outer 
man,  and  sums  of  money  were  spent  on  ribbon  and  lace 
to  add  to  their  attractions. 

The  ladies'  costume  was  more  simple,  at  least  at  this 
period  ;  they  compensated  themselves,  however,  for  any 
plainness  in  dress,  by  additional  extravagances  in  their 
head-dresses,  and  wore  "  heart-breakers,"  or  artificial 
curls,  which  were  set  out  on  wires  at  the  sides  of  the 
face.  Patching  and  painting  soon  became  common,  and 
many  a  nonconformist  divine  lifted  up  his  voice  in  vain 
against  these  vanities. 

From  an  account  in  the  Hamilton  manuscripts,  pub- 
lished in  the  Ulster  Archaeological  Journal,  it  would 
appear  that  it  was  usual,  or,  at  least,  not  uncommon,  for 
young  men  of  rank  to  go  abroad  for  some  time,  attended 
by  a  tutor,  to  perfect  themselves  in  continental  lan- 
guages. It  need  scarcely  be  said  that  travelling  was 
equally  tedious  and  expensive.  A  journey  from  Dublin 
to  Cork  occupied  several  days ;  postchaises  are  a  com- 
paratively modern  invention  ;  and  Sir  William  Petty  as- 
tonished the  good  people  of  Dublin,  in  the  seventeenth 
century,  by  inventing  some  kind  of  carriage  which  could 
be  drawn  by  horses. 

He  thus  describes  the  diet  of  the  lower  orders  :  u  The 
diet  of  these  people  is  milk,  sweet  and  sour,  thick  and 
thin  ;  but  tobacco,  taken  in  short  pipes  seldom  burned, 
seems  the  pleasure  of  their  lives.  Their  food  is  bread 
in  cakes,  whereof  a  penny  serves  a  week  for  each  ;  po- 
tatoes from  August  till  May  ;  muscles,  cockles,  and  oys- 
ters, near  the  sea  ;  eggs  and  butter,  made  very  rancid 
by  keeping  in  bogs.  As  for  flesh,  they  seldom  eat  it. 
Their  fuel  is  turf  in  most  places."  The  potatoe,  which 
has  brought  so  many  national  calamities  on  the  country, 
had  been  then  some  years  in  the  country,  but  its  use 
was  not  yet  as  general  as  it  has  become  since,  as  we  find 
from  the  mention  of  " bread  in  cakes"  being  an  edible 
during  a  considerable  part  of  the  year.  , 

Petty  estimates  the  population  of  Ireland  at  one  mil- 
lion one  hundred  thousand,  or  twohundred  thousand  fam- 
ilies. Of  the  latter  he  states  that  one  hundred  and  sixty 
thousand  have  no  fixed  hearths ;  these,  of  course,  were 
the  very  poorest  class,  who  lived  then,  as  now,  in  those 
mud  hovels,  which  are  the  astonishment  and  reprobation 


POPULATION. 


345 


of  foreign  tourists.  There  were  twenty-four  thousand 
families  who  had  "  one  chimney,"  and  sixteen  thousand 
who  had  more  than  one.  The  average  number  appears 
to  be  four.  Dublin  castle  had  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
five,  and  the  earl  of  Meath's  house  had  twenty -seven. 
There  were,  however,  one  hundred  and  sixty-four  houses 
in  Dublin,  which  had  more  than  ten. 


346 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

A.D.  1689  TO  A.D.  1757. 

WILLIAM  OF  ORANGE  IN  IRELAND. 

Contemporary  Events  :— Massacre  of  Glencoe— The  Bank  of  England 
established— Charles  XII.  King  of  Sweden— Battle  of  Blenheim- 
Union  between  England  and  Scotland— Catherine  Empress  of 
Russia— Death  of  Louis  XIV.— The  South  Sea  Scheme— Battle  of 
Fontenoy— Earthquake  at  Lisbon— Battle  of  Prague. 

James  was  induced  either  by  cowardice  or  policy  to 
attempt  the  recovery  of  his  throne  in  Ireland.  The 
Irish  had  always  taken  the  side  of  loyalty,  and,  as  in  the 
case  of  Charles  I.,  had  sacrificed  their  own  interest  to  their 
devotion.  James  was  doubtless  well  aware  of  this  feel- 
ing, and  probably  considered  that,  even  should  he  be 
foiled,  his  liberty,  if  not  his  head,  would  be  safer  in  Ire- 
land than  in  England. 

Ulster  was  principally  peopled  by  Protestant  Presby- 
terians, from  the  north  of  Scotland.  They  were  not 
likely  to  be  very  loyal  even  to  a  Stuart,  for  the  Irish  had 
been  called  over  to  Scotland  before  now  to  defend  royal 
rights ;  they  had  not  very  defined  religious  opinions, 
apart  from  their  hatred  of  Popery  and  Prelacy.  It  can- 
not be  a  matter  of  surprise,  therefore,  that  these  men 
hailed  the  prospect  of  a  new  sovereign,  whose  opinions, 
both  religious  and  political,  coincided  with  their  own. 
If  he,  too,  had  very  general  views  as  to  the  rights  of 
kings,  and  no  very  particular  view  as  to  the  rights  of 
conscience  being  granted  to  any  who  did  not  agree  with 
him,  he  was  none  the  less  acceptable. 

Tyrconnel  had  neither  men,  money,  nor  arms,  to 
meet  the  emergency.  He  had  to  withdraw  the  garrison 
from  Derry  to  make  up  the  contingent  of  three  thousand 
men,  which  he  sent  to  assist  the  king  in  England  ;  but 
they  were  immediately  disarmed,  and  the  young  men  of 


JAMES  LANDS  AT  KINSALE. 


347 


Deny  closed  their  gates,  and  thus  were  the  first  to  revolt 
openly  against  king  James.  The  native  Irish  had  been 
loyal  when  loyalty  cost  them  their  lives,  without  obtain- 
ing for  them  any  increased  liberty  to  exercise  their  re- 
ligion ;  they  were,  therefore,  not  less  likely  to  be  loyal 
now,  when  both  civil  and  religious  liberty  might  depend 
upon  their  fealty  to  the  crown.  The  Enniskilleners  re- 
volted ;  and  the  whole  of  Ulster,  except  Charlemont  and 
Carrickfergus,  declared  for  William  of  Orange. 

James  landed  at  Kinsale,  on  March  12,  1689,  attended 
by  some  Irish  troops  and  French  officers.  He  met  Tyr- 
connel  in  Cork,  created  him  a  duke,  and  then  proceeded 
to  Bandon,  where  he  received  the  submission  of  the  peo- 
ple who  had  joined  the  rebellion.  On  his  arrival  in  Dub- 
lin, he  summoned  a  Parliament  and  issued  proclamations, 
after  which  he  proceeded  to  Derry,  according  to  the 
advice  of  Tyrconnel.  Useless  negotiations  followed  ; 
and  James  returned  to  Dublin,  after  having  confided 
the  conduct  of  the  siege  to  General  Hamilton.  If  that 
officer  had  not  been  incomparably  more  humane  than 
the  men  with  whom  he  had  to  deal,  it  is  probable  that 
the  'Prentice  Boys  of  Derry  would  not  have  been  able  to 
join  in  their  yearly  commemoration  of  victory.  The.  town 
was  strongly  fortified,  and  well  supplied  with  artillery 
and  ammunition ;  the  besiegers  were  badly  clad,  badly 
provisioned,  and  destitute  of  almosteverything  necessary 
to  storm  a  town.  Their  only  resource  was  to  starve  out 
the  garrison ;  but  of  this  resource  they  were  partly  de- 
privedbythe  humanity  of  General  Hamilton,  who  allowed 
a  considerable  number  of  men,  women,  and  children  to 
leave  Derry,  and  thus  enabled  its  defenders  to  hold  out 
longer.  Lundy,  who  urged  them  to  capitulate  to  king 
James,  was  obliged  to  escape  in  disguise ;  and  Major 
Baker,  assisted  by  the  Rev.  George  Walker,  a  Protestant 
clergyman,  then  took  the  command.  According  to  the 
statements  of  the  latter,  the  garrison  amounted  to  seven 
thousand  five  hundred  men,  and  they  had  twenty-two 
cannon,  which  alone  gave  them  an  immense  advantage 
over  the  royal  army.  So  much,  has  been  already  said, 
and  written,  and  sung  of  the  bravery  of  the  Derry  men, 
that  nothing  more  remains  to  be  said.  That  they  were 
brave,  and  that  they  defended  bravely  the  cause  which 
they  adopted,  there  is  no  doubt  j  but  if  polemics  had  not 


348 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


mingled  with  politics  in  the  encounter,  it  is  quite  possi- 
ble that  we  should  have  heard  no  more  of  their  exploits 
than  of  those  of  other  men,  equally  gallant  and  equally 
brave.  The  Enniskilleners,  who  have  obtained  an  un- 
enviable notoriety  for  their  merciless  cruelty  in  war, 
occupied  the  king's  troops  so  as  to  prevent  them  from 
assisting  the  besiegers.  Several  encounters  took  place 
between  the  Derry  men  and  the  royalists,  but  with  no 
other  result  than  a  loss  of  lives  on  each  side.  On  June 
13,  a  fleet  of  thirty  ships  arrived  from  England  with  men 
and  provisions  ;  but  the  Irish  had  obtained  the  command 
of  the  river  Foyle,  and  the  possession  of  Culmore  fort  at 
the  entrance,  so  that  they  were  unable  to  enter.  De 
Eosen  was  now  sent  by  James  to  assist  Hamilton.  He 
proposed  and  carried  out  the  barbarous  expedient  of 
gathering  together  and  driving  under  the  walls  all  the 
Protestants  whom  he  could  find,  and  threatening  to  let 
them  starve  to  death  there  unless  the  garrrison  surren- 
dered. His  plan  was  strongly  disapproved  by  the  king, 
it  disgusted  the  Irish,  and  exasperated  the  besieged, 
who  on  the  next  day  erected  a  gallows  on  the  ramparts, 
and  threatened  to  hang  their  prisoners  then  and  there  if 
the  unfortunate  people  were  not  removed.  It  is  to  the 
credit  of  the  Derry  men  that  they  shared  their  provisions 
to  the  last  with  their  prisoners,  even  while  they  were 
dying  themselves  of  starvation.  Perhaps  the  example 
of  humanity  set  to  them  by  General  Hamilton  was  not 
without  its  effect,  for  kindness  and  cruelty  seem  equally 
contagious  in  time  of  war.  Kirke's  squadrons  at  last 
passed  the  forts,  broke  the  boom,  and  relieved  the  gar- 
rison, who  could  not  have  held  out  forty-eight  hours 
longer.  It  was  suspected  that  English  gold  had  pro- 
cured their  admittance,  and  that  the  officers  who  com- 
manded the  forts  were  bribed  to  let  them  pass  unscathed. 
The  siege  was  at  once  raised ;  the  royal  army  withdrew 
on  August  5 ;  and  thus  terminated  the  world-famous 
siege  of  Derry. 

James  now  held  his  Parliament  in  Dublin,  repealed  the 
Act  of  Settlement,  passed  the  Act  of  Attainder,  and 
issued  an  immense  quantity  of  base  coin. 

The  day  on  which  the  siege  of  Derry  was  raised,  the 
royalists  met  with  a  severe  reverse  at  Newtownbutler. 
They  were  under  the  command  of  lord  Mountcashel  when 


SURRENDER  OF  CARRICKFERG  US. 


349 


attacked  by  the  Enniskilleners.  The  dragoons  had  al- 
ready been  dispirited  by  a  reverse  at  Lisnaskea ;  and 
a  word  of  command1  which  was  given  incorrectly  threw 
the  old  corps  into  confusion,  from  which  their  brave 
leader  in  vain  endeavored  to  rally  them.  Colonel  Wol- 
seley,  an  English  officer,  commanded  the  Enniskilleners  ; 
and  the  cruelties  with  which  they  hunted  down  the  un- 
fortunate fugitives  has  made  the  name  almost  a  byword 
of  reproach.  Five  hundred  men  plunged  into  Lough 
Erne  to  escape  their  fury,  but  of  these  only  one  was 
saved.  Lord  Mountcashel  was  taken  prisoner,  but  he 
escaped  eventually  and  fled  to  France.  Sarsfield,  who 
commanded  at  Sligo,  was  obliged  to  retire  to  Athlone ; 
and  the  victorious  Williamites  remained  masters  of  that 
part  of  the  country. 

Schomberg  arrived  at  Bangor,  in  Down,  on  August 
13,  1689,  with  a  large  army,  composed  of  Dutch,  French 
Huguenots,  and  new  levies  from  England.  On  the  17th 
he  marched  to  Belfast,  where  he  met  with  no  resistance ; 
and  on  the  27th  Carrickfergus  surrendered  to  him  on 
honorable  terms,  after  a  siege  of  eight  days,  but  not  until 
its  governor,  colonel  Charles  MacCarthy  More,  was  re- 
duced to  his  last  barrel  of  powder.  Schomberg  pitched 
on  Dundalk  for  his  winter  quarters,  and  entrenched  him- 
self there  strongly ;  but  disease  soon  broke  out  in  his 
camp,  and  it  has  been  estimated  that  ten  thousand  men 
fully  one-half  of  the  force,  perished  of  want  and  dysen- 
tery. James  challenged  him  to  battle  several  times,  but 
Schomberg  was  too  prudent  to  risk  an  encounter  in  the 
state  of  his  troops  ;  and  the  king  had  not  the  moral  cour- 
age to  make  the  first  attack.  Complaints  soon  reached 
England  of  the  condition  to  which  the  revolutionary  army 
was  reduced.  Dr.  Walker,  whose  military  experience  at 
Derry  appears  to  have  given  him  a  taste  for  campaign- 
ing, was  one  of  the  complainants.  William  sent  over  a' 
commission  to  inquire  into  the  matter,  but,  as  usual  in 
such  cases,  it  arrived  too  late  to  do  any  good.  The  men 
wanted  food,  the  horses  wanted  provender,  the  surgeons 
and  apothecaries  wanted  medicines  for  the  sick.  It  was 
said  that  several  of  the  officers  drank  themselves  to  death, 

1  Mountcashel  gave  the  word  "  right  face ;  "  it  was  repeated  "  right 
about  face."  Colonel  Hamilton  and  captain  Lavallin  were  tried  in 
Dublin  by  court-martial  for  tlie  mistake,  and  the  latter  was  shot. 


350 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


and  some  who  were  in  power  were  charged  with  partici- 
pation in  the  profits  of  the  contractor,  John  Shales,  who, 
whether  guilty  or  not,  was  made  the  scapegoat  on  the 
occasion,  and  was  accused,  moreover,  of  having  caused 
all  this  evil  from  partiality  to  king  James,  in  whose  ser- 
vice he  had  been  previously.  J ohn  Shales  was  therefore 
taken  prisoner,  and  sent  under  a  strong  guard  to  Belfast, 
and  from  thence  to  London.  As  nothing  more  is  heard 
of  him,  it  is  probable  the  matter  was  hushed  up,  as  he 
had  powerful  accomplices  in  his  frauds. 

Abundant  supplies  arrived  from  England,  which,  if 
they  could  not  restore  the  dead,  served  at  least  to  reno- 
vate the  living ;  and  Schomberg  was  ready  to  take  the 
field  early  in  the  year  1690,  notwithstanding  the  loss  of 
about  ten  thousand  men.  James,  with  the  constitutional 
fatuity  of  the  Stuarts,  had  lost  his  opportunity.  If  he 
had  attacked  the  motley  army  of  the  revolutionary  party, 
while  the  men  were  suffering  from  want  and  disease,  and 
while  his  own  troops  were  fresh  and  courageous,  he  might 
have  conquered  ;  the  most  sanguine  now-  could  scarcely 
see  any  other  prospect  for  him  than  defeat.  He  was  in 
want  of  everything;  and  he  had  no  Englishmen  who 
hoped  for  plunder,  no  French  refugees  who  looked  for  a 
new  home,  no  brave  Dutchmen  who  loved  fighting  for 
its  own  sake,  to  fall  back  upon  in  the  hour  of  calamity. 
His  French  counsellors  only  agreed  to  disagree  with  him. 
There  was  the  ordinary  amount  of  jealousy  amongst  the 
Irish  officers —  the  inevitable  result  of  the  want  of  a  com- 
petent leader  in  whom  all  could  confide.  The  king  was 
urged  by  one  party  (the  French)  to  retire  to  Connaught, 
and  entrench  himself  there  until  he  should  receive  suc- 
cor from  France  ;  he  was  urged  by  another  party  (the 
Irish)  to  attack  Schomberg  without  delay.  Louvois,  the 
French  minister  of  war,  divided  his  hatred  with  toler- 
able impartiality  between  James  and  William  :  therefore, 
though  quite  prepared  to  oppose  the  latter,  he  was  by 
no  means  so  willing  to  assist  the  former ;  and  when  he 
did  send  men  to  Ireland,  under  the  command  of  the  count 
de  Lauzan,  he  took  care  that  their  clothing  and  arms 
should  be  of  the  worst  description.  He  received  in 
exchange  a  reinforcement  of  the  best-equipped  and  best- 
trained  soldiers  of  the  Irish  army.  Avaux  and  De  Rosen 
were  both  sent  back  to  France  by  James  ;  and  thus,  with 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BOYNE. 


351 


but  few  officers,  badly-equipped  troops,  and  his  own 
miserable  and  vacillating  council,  he  commenced  the  war 
which  ended  so  gloriously  or  so  disastrously,  according 
to  the  different  opinions  of  the  actors  in  the  fatal  drama. 
In  July,  1690,  some  of  James's  party  were  defeated  by 
the  Williamites  at  Cavan,  and  several  of  his  best  officers 
were  killed  or  made  prisoners.  Another  engagement 
took  place  at  Charlemont ;  the  governor,  Teigue  O'Regan, 
only  yielded  to  starvation.  He  surrendered  on  honora- 
ble terms ;  and  Schomberg,  with  equal  humanity  and 
courtesy,  desired  that  each  of  his  men  should  receive  a 
loaf  of  bread  at  Armagh. 

William  had  intended  for  some  time  to  conduct  the 
Irish  campaign  in  person.  He  embarked  near  Chester 
on  the  11th  of  June,  and  landed  at  Carrickfergus  on  the 
14th,  attended  by  prince  George  of  Denmark,  the  duke  of 
Wurtemburg,  the  prince  of  Hesse  Darmstadt,  the  duke 
of  Ormonde,  and  the  earls  of  Oxford,  Portland,  Scarbor- 
ough, and  Manchester,  with  other  persons  of  distinction. 
Schomberg  mef  him  half-way  between  Carrickfergus  and 
Belfast.  William,  who  had  ridden  so  far,  now  entered 
the  general's  carriage,  and  drove  to  Belfast,  where  he 
was  received  with  acclamations,  and  loud  shouts  of 
"  God  bless  the  Protestant  king !  "  There  were  bonfires 
and  discharges  of  cannon  at  the  various  camps  of  the 
Williamites.  The  officers  of  several  regiments  paid  their 
respects  to  him  in  state.  On  the  22nd  the  whole  army 
encamped  at  Loughbrickland,  near  Newry .  In  the  after- 
noon, William  came  up  and  reviewed  the  troops,  pitching 
his  tent  on  a  neighboring  eminence.  The  army  com- 
prised a  strange  medley  of  nationalities.  More  than  half 
were  foreigners ;  and  on  these  William  placed  his  prin- 
cipal reliance,  for  at  any  moment  a  reaction  might  take 
place  in  favor  of  king  James.  The  Williamite  army  was 
well  supplied,  well  trained,  admirably  commanded,  ac- 
customed to  war,  and  amounted  to  between  forty  and 
fifty  thousand.  The  Jacobite  force  consisted  only  of 
twenty  thousand,  and  of  these  a  large  proportion  were 
raw  recruits.  The  officers,  however,  were  brave  and 
skilful ;  but  they  had  only  twelve  field-pieces,  which  had 
been  recently  received  from  France.  On  the  22nd  news 
came  that  James  had  encamped  near  Dundalk ;  on  the 
23rd  he  marched  towards  Drogheda.    On  the  same  day 


352 


COMPENDIUM  OP  IRISH  HISTORY. 


William  went  to  Newry ;  he  was  thoroughly  aware  of 
the  movements  of  his  hapless  father-in-law,  for  deserters 
came  into  his  camp  from  time  to  time.  James  obtained 
his  information  from  an  English  officer,  captain  Farlow, 
and  some  soldiers  whom  he  made  prisoners  at  a  trifling 
engagement  which  took  place  between  Newry  and  Dun- 
dalk. 

James  now  determined  on  a  retreat  to  the  Boyne, 
through  Ardee.  His  design  was  to  protract  the  cam- 
paign as  much  as  possible, —  an  arrangement  which 
suited  his  irresolute  habits  ;  but  where  a  kingdom  was 
to  be  lost  or  won,  it  only  served  to  discourage  the  troops 
and  to  defer  the  decisive  moment. 

The  hostile  forces  confronted  each  other  for  the  first- 
time  on  the  banks  of  the  Boyne,  June  30,  1689.  The 
Jacobite  army  was  posted  on  the  declivity  of  the  hill  of 
Dunore  —  its  right  wing  towards  Drogheda,  its  left  ex- 
tending up  the  river.  The  centre  was  at  the  small  ham- 
let of  Oldbridge.  Entrenchments  were  hastily  thrown 
up  to  defend  the  fords,  and  James  took  up  his  position 
at  a  ruined  church  on  the  top  of  the  hill  of  Dunore.  The 
Williamite  army  approached  from  the  north,  their  brave 
leader  directing  every  movement,  and  inspiring  his  men 
with  courage  and  confidence.  He  obtained  a  favorable 
position,  and  was  completely  screened  from  view  until 
he  appeared  on  the  brow  of  the  hill,  where  his  forces 
debouched  slowly  and  steadily  into  the  ravines  below. 
After  planting  his  batteries  on  the  heights,  he  kept  up 
an  incessant  fire  on  the  Irish  lines  during  the  afternoon 
of  the  30th.  But  James's  officers  were  on  the  alert, 
even  if  their  king  was  indifferent.  William  was  recog- 
nized as  he  approached  near  their  lines  to  reconnoitre. 
Guns  were  brought  up  to  bear  on  him  quietly  and  stealth- 
ily ;  "  six  shots  were  fired  at  him,  one  whereof  fell  and 
struck  off  the  top  of  the  duke  Wurtemburg's  pistol  and 
the  whiskers  of  his  horse,  and  another  tore  the  king's 
coat  on  his  shoulder." 

William,  who  was  a  brave  man  and  wise  general,  took 
care  that  the  news  of  his  accident  should  not  dispirit  his 
men.  He  rode  through  the  camp,  showed  that  he  had 
not  received  any  serious  injury,  and  made  a  momentary 
disadvantage  a  permanent  benefit.  In  the  meantime, 
James  did  all  that  was  possible  \o  secure  a  defeat.  At 


COMMENCEMENT  OF  THE  BATTLE. 


353 


one  moment  he  decided  to  retreat,  at  the  next  he  would 
risk  a  battle  ;  then  he  sent  off  his  baggage  and  six  of 
his  field-pieces  to  Dublin,  for  his  own  special  protection  ; 
and  while  thus  so  remarkably  careful  of  himself,  he  could 
not  be  persuaded  to  allow  the  most  necessary  precaution 
to  be  taken  for  the  safety  of  his  army.  No  one  can  be 
surprised,  under  such  circumstances,  that  the  Irish  were 
defeated  ;  the  only  wonder  is,  that  they  had  courage  to 
fight  for  a  single  hour  under  so  wretched  a  leader,  and 
well  may  they  have  wished,  as  it  is  said  they  did  after 
the  battle,  to  change  generals  and  fight  it  all  over 
again. 

The  first  attack  of  William's  men  was  made  at  Slane. 
This  was  precisely  what  the  Jacobite  officers  had  antici- 
pated, and  what  James  had  obstinately  refused  to  see. 
When  it  was  too  late  he  allowed  Lauzan  to  defend  the 
ford,  but  even  Sir  Nial  O'Neill's  gallantry  was  unavail- 
ing. The  enemy  had  the  advance,  and  Portland's  artil- 
lery and  infantry  crossed  at  Slane.  William  now  felt 
certain  of  victory,  if,  indeed,  he  had  ever  doubted  it. 
It  was  low  water  at  ten  o'clock  ;  the  fords  at  Oldbridge 
were  passable  ;  a  tremendous  battery  was  opened  on 
the  Irish  lines ;  they  had  not  a  single  gun  to  reply,  and 
yet  they  waited  steadily  for  the  attack.  The  Dutch  Blue 
Guards  dashed  into  the  stream  ten  abreast,  commanded 
by  the  count  de  Solmes ;  the  Londonderry  and  Ennis- 
killen  dragoons  followed,  supported  by  the  French 
Huguenots.  The  English  infantry  came  next,  under  the 
command  of  Sir  John  Hanmer  and  the  count  Nassau. 
William  crossed  at  the  fifth  ford,  where  the  water  was 
deepest,  with  the  cavalry  of  his  left  wing.  It  was  a 
grand  and  terrible  sight.  The  men  in  the  water  fought 
for  William  and  Protestantism ;  the  men  on  land  fought 
for  their  king  and  their  faith.  The  men  were  equally 
gallant.  Of  the  leaders  we  shall  say  nothing,  lest  we 
should  be  tempted  to  say  too  much.  James  had  fol- 
lowed Lauzan's  forces  towards  Slane.  Tyrconnel's  valor 
could  not  save  the  day  for  Ireland  against  fearful  odds. 
Sarsfield's  horse  had  accompanied  the  king.  The  Hu- 
guenots were  so  warmly  received  by  the  Irish  at  the 
fords  that  they  recoiled,  and  their  commander,  Caille- 
mont,  was  mortally  wounded.  Schomberg  forgot  his 
age,  and  an  affront  he  had  received  from  William  in  the 


354 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


morning ;  and  the  man  of  eighty-two  dashed  into  the 
river  with  the  impetuosity  of  eighteen.  He  was  killed 
immediately,  and  so  was  Dr.  Walker,  who  headed  the  Ul- 
ster Protestants.  William  may  have  regretted  the  brave 
old  general,  but  he  certainly  did  not  regret  the  Prot- 
estant divine.  He  had  no  fancy  for  churchmen  med- 
dling in  secular  affairs,  and  a  rough  "  What  brought  him 
there  ?  "  was  all  the  reply  vouchsafed  to  the  news  of  his 
demise.  The  tide  now  began  to  flow,  and  the  battle 
raged  with  increased  fury.  The  valor  displayed  by  the 
Irish  was  a  marvel  even  to  their  enemies.  Hamilton 
was  wounded,  and  taken  prisoner.  William  headed  the 
Enniskilleners,  who  were  put  to  flight  soon  after  by  the 
Irish  horse,  at  Platten,  and  were  only  rallied  again  by 
himself.  When  the  enemy  had  crossed  the  ford  at  Old- 
bridge,  James  ordered  Lauzan  to  march  in  a  parallel 
direction  with  Douglas  and  37oung  Schomberg  to  Duleek. 
Tyrconnel  followed.  The  French  infantry  covered  the 
retreat  in  admirable  order,  with  the  Irish  cavalry.  When 
the  defile  of  Duleek  had  been  passed,  the  royalist  forces 
again  presented  a  front  to  the  enemy.  William's  horse 
halted.  The  retreat  was  again  resumed ;  and  at  the 
deep  defile  of  Naul  the  last  stand  was  made.  The  shades 
of  a  summer  evening  closed  over  the  belligerent  camps. 
The  Williamites  returned  to  Duleek ;  and  eternal  shad- 
ows clouded  over  the  destinies  of  the  unfortunate  Stu- 
arts —  a  race  admired  more  from  sympathy  with  their 
miseries,  than  from  admiration  of  their  virtues. 

Thus  ended  the  famous  battle  of  the  Boyne.  England 
obtained  thereby  a  new  governor  and  a  national  debt ; 
Ireland,  fresh  oppression  and  an  intensification  of  relig- 
ious and  political  animosity  unparalleled  iu  the  history 
of  nations. 

James  contrived  to  be  first  in  the  retreat  which  he  had 
anticipated,  and  for  which  he  had  so  carefully  prepared. 
He  arrived  in  Dublin  in  the  evening,  and  insulted  lady 
Tyrconnel  by  a  rude  remark  about  the  fleetness  of  her 
husband's  countrymen  in  running  away  from  the  battle  ; 
to  which  she  retorted,  with  equal  wit  and  truth,  that  his 
majesty  had  set  them  the  example.  He  left  Dublin  the 
next  morning,  having  first  insulted  the  civil  and  military 
authorities  by  throwing  the  blame  of  the  defeat  on  the 
brave  men  who  had  risked  everything  in  his  cause. 


THE  SIEGE  OP  LIMERICK. 


355 


Having  carefully  provided  for  his  own  safety  by  leaving 
two  troops  of  horse  at  Bray  to  defend  the  bridge,  should 
the  enemy  come  up,  he  hastened  towards  Duncannon, 
where  he  arrived  at  sunrise.  Here  he  embarked  in  a 
small  French  vessel  for  Kinsale,  and  from  thence  he 
sailed  to  France,  and  was  himself  the  bearer  of  the  news 
of  his  defeat.  The  command  in  Ireland  was  intrusted 
to  Tyrconnel,  who  gave  orders  that  the  Irish  soldiery 
should  march  at  once  to  Limerick,  each  under  the  com- 
mand of  his  own  officer.  William  entered  Dublin  on 
Sunday,  July  7th.  He  was  received  with  acclamations 
by  the  Protestants,  who  were  now  relieved  from  all  fear 
lest  the  Catholics  should  inflict  on  them  the  sufferings  they 
had  so  remorselessly  inflicted  on  the  Catholics.  Drog- 
heda,  Kilkenny,  Duncannon,  and  Waterford  capitulated 
to  the  victorious  army,  the  garrisons  marching  to  Lim- 
erick, towards  which  place  William  now  directed  his 
course.  Douglas  was  sent  to  besiege  Athlone  ;  but  the 
governor,  colonel  Grace,  made  such  brave  resistance 
there  that  he  was  obliged  to  withdraw  and  join  William 
near  Limerick. 

The  French  officers,  who  had  long  since  seen  the  hope- 
lessness of  the  conflict,  determined  to  leave  the  country. 
Lauzan,  after  having  surveyed  Limerick,  and  declared 
that  it  might  be  taken  with  "roasted  apples, "  ordered 
all  the  French  troops  to  Galway,  where  they  could  await 
an  opportunity  to  embark  for  France.  But  the  brave 
defenders  of  the  devoted  city  were  not  deterred.  The 
governor  consulted  with  Sarsfield,  Tyrconnel,  and  the- 
other  officers  ;  and  the  result  was  a  message  to  William, 
in  reply  to  his  demand  for  a  surrender,  to  the  effect,  that 
they  hoped  to  merit  his  good  opinion  better  by  a  vigor- 
ous defence  of  the  fortress,  which  had  been  committed  to 
them  by  their  master,  than  by  a  shameful  capitulation. 
By  a  skilfully  executed  and  rapid  march,  Sarsfield  con- 
trived to  intercept  William's  artillery  on  the  Keeper 
Mountains,  and  after  killing  the  escort,  bursting  the  guns, 
and  blowing  up  the  ammunition,  he  returned  in  triumph 
to  Limerick.  His  success  animated  the  besieged,  and 
infuriated  the  besiegers.  But  the  walls  of  Limerick  were 
not  as  stout  as  the  brave  hearts  of  its  defenders.  Wil- 
liam sent  for  more  artillery  to  Waterford  ;  and  it  was 


356  COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 

found  that  two  of  the  guns  which  Sarsfield  had  attempted 
to  destroy  were  still  available. 

The  trenches  were  opened  on  the  17th  of  August.  On 
the  20th,  the  garrison  made  a  vigorous  sortie,  and 
retarded  the  enemy's  progress  ;  but  on  the  24th  the  bat- 
teries were  completed,  and  a  murderous  fire  of  red-hot 
shot  and  shells  was  poured  into  the  devoted  city.  The 
trenches  were  carried  within  a  few  feet  of  the  palisades 
on  the  27th  ;  and  a  breach  having  been  made  in  the  wall 
near  St.  John's  Gate,  William  ordered  the  assault  to 
commence.  The  storming  party  were  supported  by  ten 
thousand  men.  For  three  hours  a  deadly  struggle  was 
maintained.  The  result  seemed  doubtful,  so  determined 
was  the  bravery  evinced  on  each  side.  Boisseleau,  the 
governor,  had  not  been  unprepared,  although  he  was 
taken  by  surprise,  and  had  opened  a  murderous  cross- 
fire on  the  assailants  when  first  they  attempted  the 
storm.  The  Brandenburg  regiment  had  gained  the 
Black  Battery,  when  the  Irish  sprung  a  mine,  and  men, 
faggots,  and  stones  were  blown  up  in  a  moment.  A 
council  of  war  was  held ;  William,  whose  temper  was 
not  the  most  amiable  at  any  time,  was  unusually  morose. 
He  had  lost  two  thousand  men  between  the  killed  and 
the  wounded,  and  he  had  not  taken  the  city,  which  a 
French  general  had  pronounced  attainable  with  "  roasted 
apples."  On  Sunday,  August  31,  the  siege  was  raised. 
William  returned  to  England,  where  his  presence  was 
imperatively  demanded.  The  military  command  was 
confided  to  the  Count  de  Solmes,  who  was  afterwards 
succeeded  by  De  Ginkell ;  the  civil  government  was 
intrusted  to  lord  Sidney,  Sir  Charles  Porter,  and  Mr. 
Coningsby. 

Tyrconnel  returned  to  Ireland,  in  January,  with  a 
small  supply  of  money  and  some  provisions,  notwith- 
standing the  plots  laid  for  him  by  Luttrell  and  Purcell. 
He  brought  a  patent  from  James  creating  Sarsfield  earl 
of  Lucan.  A  French  fleet  arrived  in  May,  with  a  small 
supply  of  provisions,  clothing,  and  ammunition.  It  had 
neither  men  nor  money  ;  but  it  brought  what  was  sup- 
posed to  be  a  fair  equivalent,  in  the  person  of  St.  Ruth, 
a  distinguished  French  officer,  who  was  sent  to  take  the 
command  of  the  Irish  army.    In  the  meantime,  Ginkell 


THE  SIEGE  OF  ATHLONE. 


357 


was  organizing  the  most  effective  force  ever  seen  in  Ire- 
land ;  neither  men  nor  money  were  spared  by  the  English 
Parliament.  And  this  was  the  army  which  the  impov- 
erished and  ill-provisioned  troops  of  the  royalists  were 
doomed  to  encounter. 

Hostilities  commenced  on  June  7,  with  the  siege  of 
Baliymore  castle  in  Westmeath.  The  governor  surren- 
dered, and  Athlone  was  next  attacked.  The  town  is 
situated  on  the  river  Shannon.  Its  position  must  be 
thoroughly  understood,  to  comprehend  the  heroic  brav- 
ery with  which  it  was  defended.  It  will  be  remembered 
that  Athlone  was  one  of  the  towns  which  the  English  of 
the  Pale  had  fortified  at  the  very  commencement  of  their 
invasion  of  Ireland.  That  portion  of  the  city  which  lay 
on  the  Leinster  or  Pale  side  of  the  river  had  never  been 
strongly  fortified,  and  a  breach  was  made  at  once  in  the 
wall,  Ginkell  assaulted  it  with  four  thousand  men,  and 
the  defenders  at  once  withdrew  to  the  other  side  ;  but 
they  held  the  bridge  with  heroic  bravery,  until  they  had 
broken  down  two  of  the  arches,  and  placed  the  broad 
and  rapid  Shannon  between  themselves  and  their  ene- 
mies. St.  Ruth  had  arrived  in  the  meantime,  and  posted 
his  army,  amounting  to  about  fifteen  thousand  horse 
and  foot,  at  the  Irish  side  of  the  river.  The  English  had 
now  raised  the  works  so  high  on  their  side,  that  they 
were  able  to  keep  up  an  incessant  fire  upon  the  town. 
According  to  their  own  historian,  Story,  they  threw  in 
twelve  thousand  cannon  balls  and  six  hundred  bombs, 
and  the  siege  cost  them  "nigh  fifty  tons  of  powder. " 
The  walls  opposite  to  the  batteries  were  soon  broken 
down,  and  the  town  itself  reduced  to  ruins.  The  be- 
siegers next  attempted  to  cross  in  a  bridge  of  boats, 
but  the  defenders  turned  their  few  field-pieces  on  them. 
They  then  tried  to  mend  the  broken  bridge  ;  huge  beams 
were  flung  across,  and  they  had  every  hope  of  success. 
But  they  knew  not  yet  what  Irish  valor  could  dare. 
Eight  or  ten  devoted  men  dashed  into  the  water,  and  tore 
down  the  planks,  under  a  galling  fire ;  and,  as  they  fell 
dead  or  dying  into  the  river,  others  rushed  to  take  the 
places  of  their  fallen  comrades,  and  to  complete  the 
work. 

St.  Ruth  now  ordered  preparations  to  be  made  for  an 
assault,  and  desired  the  ramparts  on  the  Connaughtside 


358 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


of  the  town  to  be  levelled,  that  a  whole  battalion  might 
enter  abreast  to  relieve  the  garrison  when  it  was  as- 
sailed. But  the  governor,  D'Usson,  opposed  the  plan, 
and  neglected  the  order.  All  was  now  confusion  in  the 
camp.  There -never  had  been  any  real  head  to  the  roy- 
alist party  in  Ireland  ;  and  to  ensure  victory  in  battle, 
or  success  in  any  important  enterprise  where  multitudes 
are  concerned,  it  is  absolutely  essential  that  all  should 
act  with  union  of  purpose.  Such  union,  where  there 
are  many  men,  and,  consequently,  many  minds,  can  be 
attained  only  by  the  most  absolute  submission  to  one 
leader ;  and  this  leader,  to  obtain  submission,  should  be 
either  a  lawfully  constituted  authority,  or,  in  cases  of 
emergency,  one  of  those  master-spirits  to  whom  men 
bow  with  unquestioning  submission,  because  of  the  maj- 
esty of  intellect  within  them.  There  were  brave  men 
and  true  men  in  that  camp  of  Athlone,  but  there  was  not 
one  who  possessed  these  essential  requisites. 

According  to  the  Williamite  historian,  Ginkell  was 
informed  by  traitors  of  what  was  passing,  and  that  the 
defences  on  the  river  side  were  guarded  by  two  of  the 
"most  indifferent  Irish  regiments."  He  immediately 
chose  two  thousand  men  for  the  assault,  distributed  a 
gratuity  of  guineas  amongst  them,  and,  at  a  signal  from 
the  church  bell,  at  six  in  the  evening,  on  June  30,  the 
assault  was  made,  and  carried  with  such  rapidity,  that 
St.  Ruth,  who  was  with  the  cavalry  at  a  distance,  was 
not  aware  of  what  had  happened  until  all  was  over.  St. 
Ruth  at  once  removed  his  army  to  Ballinasloe,  twelve 
miles  from  his  former  post,  and  subsequently  to  Augh- 
rim.  The  outcry  against  Tyrconnel  became  so  general 
that  he  was  obliged  to  leave  the  camp. 

St.  Ruth's  ground  was  well  chosen.  He  had  placed 
his  men  upon  an  eminence,  and  each  wing  was  protected 
by  a  morass  or  bog.  The  Williamites  came  up  on  Sun- 
day, July  11th,  while  the  Irish  were  hearing  Mass.  In 
this  instance,  as  in  so  many  others,  it  is  impossible  to 
ascertain  correctly  the  numerical  force  of  each  army. 
The  historians  on  either  side  were  naturally  anxious  to 
magnify  the  number  of  their  opponents,  and  to  lessen 
their  own.  It  is  at  least  certain,  that  on  this,  as  on 
other  occasions,  the  Irish  were  miserably  deficient  in  all 
the  appliances  of  the  art  of  war,  while  the  English  were 


THE  BATTLE  OF  AUGHRIM. 


359 


admirably  supplied.  The  most  probable  estimate  of  the 
Irish  force  appears  to  be  fifteen  thousand  horse  and  foot ; 
and  of  the  English,  twenty  thousand.  Ginkell  opened 
fire  on  the  enemy  as  soon  as  his  guns  were  planted. 
Some  trifling  skirmishes  followed.  A  council  of  war  was 
held,  and  the  deliberation  lasted  until  half-past  four  in 
the  afternoon,  at  which  time  a  general  engagement  was 
decided  on.  A  cannonade  had  been  kept  up  on  both 
sides,  in  which  the  English  had  immensely  the  advan- 
tage, St.  Ruth's  excellently  chosen  position  being  almost 
useless  for  want  of  sufficient  artillery.  At  half-past  six 
Ginkell  ordered  an  advance  on  the  Irish  right  centre, 
having  previously  ascertained  that  the  bog  was  passable. 
The  defenders,  after  discharging  their  fire,  gradually 
drew  the  Williamites  after  them  by  an  almost  impercept- 
ible retreat,  until  they  had  them  face  to  face  with  their 
main  line.  Then  the  Irish  cavalry  charged  with  irresist- 
ible valor,  and  the  English  were  thrown  into  total  disor- 
der. St.  Ruth,  proud  of  the  success  of  his  strategies 
and  the  valor  of  his  men,  exclaimed,  "  Le  jour  est  a  nous, 
mes  enfans  I  "  But  St.  Ruth's  weak  point  was  his  left 
wing,  and  this  was  at  once  perceived  and  taken  advan- 
tage of  by  the  Dutch  general.  Some  of  his  infantry 
made  good  their  passage  across  the  morass,  which  St. 
Ruth  had  supposed  impassable  ;  and  the  men,  who  com- 
manded this  position  from  a  ruined  castle,  found  that  the 
balls  with  which  they  had  been  served  did  not  suit  their 
fire-arms,  so  that  they  were  unable  to  defend  the  passage. 
St.  Ruth  at  once  perceived  his  error.  He  hastened  to 
support  them  with  a  brigade  of  horse  ;  but  even  as  he 
exclaimed,  "They  are  beaten;  let  us  beat  them  to  the 
purpose/'  a  cannon-ball  carried  off  his  head,  and  all  was 
lost.  Another  death,  which  oqcurred  almost  immediately 
after,  completed  the  misfortunes  of  the  Irish.  The  in- 
fantry had  been  attended  and  encouraged  by  Dr.  Aloy- 
sius  Stafford,  chaplain  to  the  forces ;  but  when  "  death 
interrupted  his  glorious  career,"  they  were  panic-struck ; 
and  three  hours  after  the  death  of  the  general  and  the 
priest,  there  was  not  a  man  of  the  Irish  army  left  upon 
the  field.  But  the  real  cause  of  the  failure  was  the  fatal 
misunderstanding  which  existed  between  the  leaders. 
Sarsfield,  who  was  thoroughly  able  to  have  taken  St. 
Ruth's  position,  and  to  have  retrieved  the  fortunes  of  the 


360 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


day,  had  been  placed  in  the  rear  by  the  jealousy  of  the 
latter,  and  kept  in  entire  ignorance  of  the  plan  of  battle. 
He  was  now  obliged  to  withdraw  without  striking  a  sin- 
gle blow.  The  cavalry  retreated  along  the  high  road  to 
Loughrea ;  the  infantry  fled  to  a  bog,  where  numbers 
were  massacred,  unarmed  and  in  cold  blood. 

The  loss  on  both  sides  was  immense,  and  can  never 
be  exactly  estimated.  Harris  says  that  "had  not  St. 
Ruth  been  taken  off,  it  would  have  been  hard  to  say  what 
the  consequences  of  this  day  would  have  been."  Many 
of  the  dead  remained  unburied,  and  their  bones  were  left 
to  bleach  in  the  storms  of  winter  and  the  sun  of  summer. 
There  was  one  exception  to  the  general  neglect.  An  Irish 
officer,  who  had  been  slain,  was  followed  by  his  faithful 
dog.  The  poor  animal  lay  beside  his  master's  body  day 
and  night ;  and  though  he  fed  upon  other  corpses  with 
the  rest  of  the  dogs,  he  would  not  permit  them  to  touch 
the  treasured  remains.  He  continued  his  watch  until 
January,  when  he  flew  at  a  soldier,  who  he  feared  was 
about  to  remove  the  bones,  which  were  all  that  remained 
to  him  of  the  being  by  whom  he  had  been  caressed  and 
fed.  The  soldier  in  his  fright  unslung  his  piece  and  fired, 
and  the  faithful  wolf-dog  laid  himself  down  and  died  by 
his  charge. 

Ginkeli  laid  siege  to  Galway  a  week  after  the  battle 
of  Aughrim.  The  inhabitants  relied  principally  upon  the 
arrival  of  Balldearg  O'Donnellfor  their  defence;  but,  as 
he  did  not  appear  in  time,  they  capitulated  on  favorable 
terms,  and  the  Dutch  general  marched  to  Limerick. 

Tyrconnel  died  at  Limerick  of  apoplexy,  while  he  was 
preparing  to  put  the  city  in  a  state  of  defence.  He  was 
a  faithful  and  zealous  supporter  of  the  royal  cause,  and 
devoted  to  the  Irish  nation.  His  loyalty  has  induced  one 
party  to  blacken  his  character ;  his  haughty  and  uncon- 
^Iliatory  manner  prevented  his  good  qualities  from  being 
fully  appreciated  by  the  other. 

The  real  command  now  devolved  on  M.  D'Usson,  the 
governor  of  Limerick.  Active  preparations  for  the  siege 
were  made  on  both  sides.  Ginkeli  contrived  to  commu- 
nicate with  Henry  Luttrell,  whose  perfidy  was  discov- 
ered, and  who  was  tried  by  court-martial  and  imprisoned. 
Sixty  cannon  and  nineteen  mortars  were  planted  against 
the  devoted  city,  and  on  the  30th  the  bombardment 


THE  SIEGE  OF  LIMERICK. 


861 


commenced.  The  Irish  horse  had  been  quartered  on  the 
Clare  side  of  the  Shannon  ;  but  through  "the  treachery  or 
indifference  of  brigadier  Clifford,  who  had  been  posted, 
with  a  strong  bod}'  of  dragoons  to  prevent  such  an  at- 
tempt, Ginkeil  was  enabled  to  throw  across  a  pontoon- 
bridge,  and  on  the  morning  of  the  16th,  sent  over  a  large 
detachment  of  horse  and  foot,  which  effectually  cut  off 
communication  between  the  citizens  and  their  camp. 
On  the  22nd  he  made  a  feint  of  raising  the  siege,  but  his 
real  object  was  to  lull  suspicion,  while  he  attacked  the 
works  at  the  Clare  end  of  Thomond-bridge.  The  posi- 
tion was  bravely  defended  by  colonel  Lacy,  but  he  was 
obliged  to  yield  to  overpowering  numbers  ;  and  the  town- 
major,  fearing  that  the  enemy  would  enter  in  the  melie 
with  the  Irish,  drew  up  the  bridge.  The  English  gave 
no  quarter,  and,  according  to  their  own  account,  six 
hundred  men  were  slaughtered  on  the  spot.  This  was 
the  last  engagement.  Sarsfleld  recommended  a  surren- 
der. Resistance  was  equally  hopeless  and  useless ;  it 
could  only  end  in  a  fearful  sacrifice  of  life  on  both  sides. 
A  parley  took  place  on  the  23rd,  and  on  the  24th  a  three 
days'  truce  was  arranged.  Hostages  were  exchanged, 
and  a  friendly  intercourse  was  established.  On  Octo- 
ber 3,  1691,  the  treaty  was  signed.  The  large  stone  is 
still  shown  which  was  used  as  a  table  on  the  occasion. 
What  that  treaty  contained,  and  how  it  was  violated,  are 
matters  which  demand  a  careful  and  impartial  consider- 
ation. 

St.  John's  Gate  and  the  Irish  outworks  were  surren- 
dered to  the  English ;  the  English  town  was  left  for  the 
Irish  troops  to  occupy  until  their  departure  for  France. 
The  men  were  to  have  their  choice  whether  they  would 
serve  under  William  III.,  or  under  the  French.  A  few 
days  after,  they  were  mustered  on  the  Clare  side  of  the 
Shannon,  to  declare  which  alternative  they  preferred. 
An  Ulster  battalion,  and  a  few  men  in  each  regiment,  in 
all  about  one  thousand,  entered  the  service  of  govern- 
ment ;  two  thousand  received  passes  to  return  home ; 
eleven  thousand,  with  all  the  cavalry,  volunteered  for 
France,  and  embarked  for  that  country  in  different  de- 
tachments, under  their  respective  officers.  They  were 
warmly  received  in  the  land  of  their  adoption  ;  and  all 
Irish  catholics  going  to  France  were  granted  the  privi- 
16 


362 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


leges  of  French  citizens,  without  the  formality  of  natu- 
ralization. And  thus  was  formed  the  famous  *'  Irish 
Brigade,"  which  obtained  an  European  reputation.  As 
Macaulay  has  well  observed,  "  there  were  Irish  Roman 
Catholics  of  great  ability,  energy,  and  ambition;  but 
they  were  to  be  found  everywhere  except  in  Ireland,  at 
Versailles,  and  at  St.  Ildefonso,  in  the  armies  of  Fred- 
eric, and  in  the  armies  of  Maria  Theresa.  One  exile 
became  a  marshal  of  France  ;  another  became  prime  min- 
ister of  Spain.  If  he  had  staid  in  his  native  land  he 
would  have  been  regarded  as  an  inferior  by  all  the  worth- 
less squireens  who  had  signed  the  declaration  against 
transubstantiation.  In  his  palace  at  Madrid  he  had  the 
pleasure  of  being  assiduously  courted  by  the  ambassa- 
dor of  George  the  Second,  and  of  bidding  defiance,  in 
high  terms,  to  the  ambassador  of  George  the  Third. 
Scattered  over  all  Europe  were  to  be  found  brave  Irish 
generals,  dexterous  Irish  diplomatists,  Irish  counts, 
Irish  barons,  Irish  knights  of  St.  Louis  and  St.  Leopold, 
of  the  White  Eagle,  and  the  Golden  Fleece,  who,  if  they 
had  remained  in  the  house  of  bondage,  could  not  have 
been  ensigns  of  marching  regiments,  or  freemen  of  petty 
corporations." 

This  treaty  was  signed  on  October  3,  1691.  It  was 
signed  with  every  ceremony  and  circumstance  which 
could  be  supposed  necessary  to  give  it  force  and  perma- 
nence. It  was  the  issue  of  a  war  for  supremacy  oT  opin- 
ion, religious  rather  than  political,  yet,  to  a  certain  de- 
gree, political.  There  were  two  circumstances  connected 
with  the  treaty  which,  if  possible,  enhanced  the  sacred- 
ness  with  which  it  should  have  been  observed.  First, 
in  making  a  clean  copy  from  the  original  draught,  two 
lines  were  omitted  by  negligence,  and  the  error  was  not 
discovered  until  a  few  days  after  the  contract  was  signed, 
and  theirs/  garrison  given  up  ;  but  when  the  error  was 
discovered,  the  Irish  army  refused  to  give  up  the  other 
garrisons,  until  the  omitted  lines  were  inserted.  Two 
days  after,  a  French  fleet  appeared  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Shannon  with  ample  supplies  of  men  and  ammunition. 
Some  of  the  Irish  officers  suggested  an  immediate  breach 
of  the  treaty,  but  Sarsfield  indignantly  refused  to  com- 
ply with  such  dishonorable  suggestions. 

The  preamble  of  the  treaty  ran  thus  :  —  "  Articles  of 


THE  TREATY  OF  LIMERICK. 


363 


the  Treaty,  signed  under  seal  by  Sir  Charles  Porter  and 
Thomas  Coningsby,  Esq.,  lords  justices  of  Ireland,  and 
his  excellency  baron  de  Ginkell,  lieutenant- general 
and  commander-in-chief  of  the  English  army.  On  the 
other  part  by  the  right  honorable  Patrick  Sarsfield,  earl 
of  Lucan,  Piercy  viscount  Gal  way,  colonel  Nicholas  Pur- 
cell,  colonel  Nicholas  Cusack,  Sir  Toby  Butler,  colonel 
Garret  Dillon,  and  colonel  John  Brown. 

"  Article  I.  The  Roman  Catholics  of  the  kingdom  of 
Ireland  shall  enjoy  the  free  exercise  of  their  religion,  and 
all  the  privileges  granted  by  the  laws  of  Ireland,  such  as 
they  had  enjoyed  in  the  reigns  of  Charles  II.  ;  and  their 
majesties,  as  soon  as  affairs  will  permit,  shall  convene 
the  parliament  of  that  kingdom,  when  they  shall  en- 
deavor to  procure  for  the  Roman  Catholics  the  greatest 
security  for,  and  in,  the  exercise  of  their  religion." 

This  was  the  whole  of  the  first  and  most  important 
article.  It  was  in  fact  the  one  object  for  which  the  Irish 
lords  and  officers  had  fought,  and  they  could  not  have 
supposed  that  articles  so  plainly  made  and  ratified  would 
be  so  ruthlessly  broken  and  disregarded. 

Article  II.  guaranteed  pardon  and  protection  to  all 
who  had  served  king  James,  on  taking  the  oath  of  alle- 
giance, as  prescribed  in  Article  IX.,  as  follows  :  —  "  I, 
A.  B.,  do  solemnly  promise  and  swear  that  I  will  be 
faithful,  and  bear  true  allegiance  to  their  majesties  king 
William  and  queen  Mary  ;  so  help  me  God." 

Articles  III.,  IV.,  V.,  and  VI.  extended  the  provisions 
of  Articles  I.  and  II.  to  merchants  and  other  classes  of 
men.  Article  VII.  permits  every  nobleman  and  gentle- 
man comprised  in  the  said  articles  to  carry  sidearms, 
and  to  keep  a  gun  in  his  house.  Article  VIII.  gives  the 
right  of  removing  goods  and  chattels  without  search. 
Article  IX.  is  as  follows  :  "  The  oath  to  be  administered 
to  such  Roman  Catholics  as  submit  to  their  majesties' 
government  shall  be  the  oath  aforesaid,  and  no  other." 

Article  X.  guarantees  that  "  no  person  or  persons  who 
shall  at  any  time  hereafter  break  these  articles,  or  any 
of  them,  shall  thereby  cause  any  other  person  or  persons 
to  forfeit  or  lose  the  benefit  of  them."  Articles  XI.  and 
XII.  relate  to  the  ratifications  of  the  articles  within 
"  eight  months  or  sooner."  Article  XIII.  refers  to  the 
debts  of  colonel  John  Brown,  commissary  of  the  Irish 


364 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


army,  to  several  Protestants,  and  arranges  for  their  sat- 
isfaction. 

The  military  articles  provide  for  the  honorable  exile  of 
those  who  wished  to  leave  the  country,  for  the  reception 
into  the  king's  army  of  those  who  wished  to  remain,  and 
for  the  cessation  of  hostilities.  The  peroration  of  the 
civil  articles  is  worded  thus :  "  And  as  the  said  city  of 
Limerick  has  been  in  consequence  of  the  above-named 
articles  surrendered  to  us,  we  make  known  to  all  that 
we  confirm  and  ratify/'  &c,  &c. 

On  the  24th  of  February  following,  royal  letters  patent 
confirmatory  of  the  treaty  were  issued  from  Westmin- 
ster in  the  name  of  the  king  and  queen,  whereby  they 
declared  that  ''*  we  do,  for  us,  our  heirs,  and  successors, 
as  far  as  in  us  lies,  ratify  and  confirm  the  same,  and 
every  clause,  matter,  and  thing  therein  contained;  and 
as  to  such  parts  thereof  for  which  an  act  of  Parliament 
shall  be  found  to  be  necessary,  we  shall  recommend  the 
same  to  be  made  good  by  Parliament,  and  shall  give  our 
royal  assent  to  any  bill  or  bills  that  shall  be  passed  by 
our  two  houses  of  Parliament  for  that  purpose.  And 
whereas  it  appears  unto  us  that  it  was  agreed  between 
the  parties  to  the  said  articles  that  after  the  words 
'  Limerick,  Clare,  Kerry,  Cork,  Mayo,  or  any  of  them/ 
in  the  second  of  the  said  articles,  the  words  following, 
viz.  '  And  all  such  as  are  under  their  protection  in  the 
said  counties/  should  be  inserted  and  be  part  of  the 
said  articles,  which  words  having  been  casually  omitted 
by  the  writer,  the  omission  was  not  discovered  until 
after  the  articles  were  signed,  but  was  taken  notice  of 
before  the  second  town  was  surrendered,  and  that  our 
said  justices  and  generals,  or  one  of  them,  did  promise 
that  the  said  clause  should  be  made  good,  it  being  within 
the  intention  of  the  capitulation,  and  inserted  in  the 
foul  draft  thereof :  Our  further  will  and  pleasure  is,  and 
we  do  hereby  ratify  and  confirm  the  said  omitted  words, 
viz.  '  And  all  such  as  are  under  their  protection  in  the 
said  counties/  hereby,  for  us,  our  heirs  and  successors, 
ordaining  and  declaring  that  all  and  every  person  and 
persons  therein  concerned  shall  and  may  have,  receive 
and  enjoy  the  benefit  thereof,  in  such  and  the  same  man- 
ner as  if  the  said  words  had  been  inserted  in  their  proper 
place  in  the  said  second  article,  any  omission,  defect,  or 


VIOLATIONS  OP  THE  TREATY. 


865 


mistake  in  the  said  second  article  in  any  wise  notwith- 
standing. Provided  always,  and  our  will  and  pleasure 
is,  that  these  our  letters  patent  shall  be  enrolled  in  our 
court  of  chancery,  in  our  said  kingdom  of  Ireland,  with- 
in the  space  of  one  year  next  ensuing/7 

How  soon  a  violation  of  the  treaty  was  suggested  is 
evident  from  the  fact  that,  the  Sunday  following  the 
return  of  the  lords  justices  from  Limerick,  Dopping, 
bishop  of  Meath,  preached  before  them  at  Christ's  church, 
on  the  crime  of  keeping  faith  with  Papists.  The  grand 
jury  of  Cork,  urged  on  by  Cox,  the  recorder  of  Kinsale, 
one  of  the  historians  of  those  times,  returned  in  their 
inquest  that  the  restoration  of  the  earl  of  Clancarty's 
estates  "  would  be  dangerous  to  the  Protestant  inter- 
est." 

Two  months  had  scarcely  elapsed  after  the  departure 
of  the  Irish  troops,  when  Harris,  an  English  historian, 
was  obliged  to  write  thus  of  the  open  violation  of  the 
articles  :  "  The  justices  of  the  peace,  sheriffs,  and  other 
magistrates,  presuming  on  their  power  in  the  country, 
dispossessed  several  of  their  majesties'  Catholic  subjects, 
not  only  of  their  goods  and  chattels,  but  also  of  their 
lands  and  tenements,  to  the  great  reproach  of  their  maj- 
esties' government."  These  complaints  were  so  gen- 
eral, that  the  lords  justices  were  at  last  obliged  to  issue 
a  proclamation  on  the  subject  (November  19,  1691),  in 
which  they  state  that  they  had  "received  complaints 
from  all  parts  of  Ireland  of  the  ill-treatment  of  the  Irish 
who  had  submitted ;  and  that  they  (the  Irish)  were  so 
extremely  terrified  with  apprehensions  of  the  continuance 
of  that  usage,  that  some  of  those  who  had  quitted  the 
Irish  army  and  went  home,  with  the  resolution  not  to  go 
to  France,  were  then  come  back  again  and  pressed  ear- 
nestly to  go  thither,  rather  than  stay  in  Ireland,  where, 
contrary  to  the  public  faith,  as  well  as  law  and  justice, 
they  were  robbed  in  their  persons  and  abused  in  their 
substance."  This  was  an  official  document,  and  it  eman- 
ated from  the  last  persons  who  were  likely  to  listen  to 
such  complaints,  or  relieve  them  if  they  could  possibly 
have  been  denied. 

The  men  who  had  hoped  for  confiscations  that  they 
might  share  the  plunder,  now  began  to  clamor  loudly. 
It  was  necessary  to  get  up  a  popular  cry  against  Pa- 


366 


COMPENDIUM  OP  IRISH  HISTORY. 


pists,  as  the  surest  means  of  attaining  their  end.  Indi- 
viduals who  had  as  little  personal  hatred  to  the  pope  as 
they  had  to  the  Grand  Turk,  and  as  little  real  knowledge 
of  the  Catholic  Faith  as  of  Mahometanism,  uttered  wild 
cries  of  "  No  Popery  !  "  and  "  No  Surrender  !  "  and  Wil- 
liam was  obliged  to  yield  to  the  faction  who  had  set 
him  on  the  throne. 

The  next  and  grossest  violation  of  the  treaty  occurred 
in  the  Parliament  convened  in  1692.  A  few  Catholic 
peers  and  a  very  few  Catholic  commoners  took  their 
seats.  One  of  the  first  acts  of  the  victorious  majority 
was  to  frame  an  oath  in  direct  contravention  to  the  oath 
prescribed  by  the  ninth  civil  article  of  the  treaty,  to  be 
taken  by  members  of  both  houses.  This  oath  solemnly 
and  explicitly  denied  "  that  in  the  sacrament  of  the 
Lord's  supper  there  is  any  transubstantiation  of  the  ele- 
ments ;  "  and  as  solemnly  affirmed  "  that  the  invocation 
or  adoration  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  or  any  other  saint,  and 
the  sacrifice  of  the  Mass,  as  they  are  now  used  in  the 
church  of  Rome,  are  damnable  and  idolatrous."  The 
Catholic  peers  and  commoners  could  not  take  any  such 
oath,  and  retired  from  the  house.  Thus  the  Irish  Parlia- 
ment consisted  of  members  exclusively  Protestant  until 
its  extinction  in  1800.  This  was  an  open  and  flagrant 
violation  of  the  treaty,  but  more  violations  were  in  prep- 
aration. 

On  October  28,  1692,  the  Parliament  in  Dublin  rejected 
a  bill  which  had  been  sent  from  England,  containing 
restrictions  on  certain  duties,  solely  to  proclaim  their 
independence.  A  few  days  after,  they  were  taught  a 
lesson  of  obedience.  Lord  Sidney  came  down  to  the 
house  unexpectedly,  and  prorogued  Parliament,  with  a 
severe  rebuke,  ordering  the  clerk  to  enter  his  protest 
against  the  proceedings  of  the  commons  on  the  journals 
of  the  house  of  lords.  The  hopes  of  the  English  were 
raised,  and  the  Parliament  brought  forward  the  subject 
of  the  Limerick  articles,  with  torrents  of  complaints 
against  the  Irish  in  general,  and  the  Irish  Catholics  in 
particular.  William  received  their  remonstrance  coolly, 
and  the  matter  was  allowed  to  rest  for  a  time.  In  1695 
lord  Capel  was  appointed  viceroy.  He  at  once  sum- 
moned a  Parliament,  which  sat  for  several  sessions,  and 
in  which  some  of  the  penal  laws  against  Catholics  were 


THE  PENAL  LAWS. 


36T 


enacted.  As  the  generality  even  of  educated  persons, 
both  in  England  and  Ireland,  are  entirely  ignorant  of 
what  these  laws  really  were,  we  shall  give  a  brief  ac- 
count of  their  enactments,  premising  first,  that  seven  lay 
peers  and  seven  Protestant  bishops  had  the  honorable 
humanity  to  sign  a  protest  against  them. 

(1)  The  Catholic  peers  were  deprived  of  their  right 
to  sit  in  Parliament.  (2)  Catholic  gentlemen  were  for- 
bidden to  be  elected  as  members  of  Parliament.  (3)  It 
denied  all  Catholics  the  liberty  of  voting,  and  it  excluded 
them  from  all  offices  of  trust,  and  indeed  from  all  remuner- 
ative employment,  however  insignificant.1  (4)  They  were 
fined  60Z.  a  month  for  absence  from  the  Protestant  form  of 
worship.  (5)  They  were  forbidden  to  travel  five  miles 
from  their  houses,  to  keep  arms,  to  maintain  suits  at  law, 
or  to  be  guardians  or  executors.  (6)  Any  four  justices 
of  the  peace  could,  without  further  trial,  banish  any  man 
for  life  if  he  refused  to  attend  the  Protestant  service.  ( 7  ) 
Any  two  justices  of  the  peace  could  call  any  man  over 
sixteen  before  them,  and  if  he  refused  to  abjure  the  Catho- 
lic religion,  they  could  bestow  his  property  upon  the  next 
of  kin.  (8)  No  Catholic  could  employ  a  Catholic  school- 
master to  educate  his  children  ;  and  if  he  sent  his  child 
abroad  for  education,  he  was  subject  to  a  fine  of  100Z., 
and  the  child  could  not  inherit  any  property  either  in 
England  or  Ireland.  (9)  Any  Catholic  priest  who  came 
to  the  country  should  be  hanged.  (10)  Any  Protestant 
suspecting  any  other  Protestant  of  holding  property2  in 
trust  for  any  Catholic,  might  file  a  bill  against  the  sus- 
pected trustee,  and  take  the  estate  or  property  from  him. 
(11)  Any  Protestant  seeing  a  Catholic  tenant-at-will  on 
a  farm,  which,  in  his  opinion,  yielded  one-third  more  than 
the  yearly  rent,  might  enter  on  that  farm,  and,  by  sim- 
ply Wearing  to  the  fact,  take  possession.    (12)  Any 

1  A  petition  was  sent  in  to  Parliament  by  the  Protestant  porters  of 
Dublin,  complaining  of  Darby  Ryan  for  employing  Catholic  porters. 
The  petition  was  respectfully  received ,  and  referred  to  a  "  commit- 
tee of  grievances."— Com.  Jour.  vol.  ii.  f.  699.  Such  an  instance,  and 
it  is  only  one  of  many,  is  the  best  indication  of  the  motive  for  enact- 
ing the  penal  laws,  and  the  cruelty  of  them. 

2  It  should  be  remembered  that  at  this  time  Catholics  were  in  a 
majority  of  at  least  five  to  one  over  Protestants.  Hence  intermar- 
riages took  place,  and  circumstances  occurred,  in  which  Protes- 
tants found  it  their  interest  to  hold  property  for  Catholics,  to  prevent 
it  from  being  seized  by  others.  A  gentleman,  of  considerable  prop- 
erty in  the  county  Kerry,  informed  me  that  his  property  was  held  in 
this  way  for  several  generations. 


368 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


Protestant  might  take  away  the  horse  of  a  Catholic,  no 
matter  how  valuable,  by  simply  paying  him  51.  (13) 
Horses  and  wagons  belonging  to  Catholics,  were  in  all 
cases  to  be  seized  for  the  use  of  the  militia.  (14)  Any 
Catholic  gentleman's  child  who  became  a  Protestant, 
could  at  once  take  possession  of  his  father's  property. 

One  of  the  articles  of  the  violated  treaty  provided  that 
the  poor  Catholics  should  be  allowed  to  exercise  their 
trade.  An  act  to  prevent  the  further  growth  of  popery 
was  passed  afterwards,  which  made  it  forfeiture  of  goods 
and  imprisonment  for  any  Catholic  to  exercise  a  trade  in 
Limerick  and  Galway,  except  seamen,  fishermen,  and  day 
laborers,  and  even  of  those  only  twenty  were  allowed 
in  each  town,  and  they  were  obliged  to  have  a  special 
license.  Thus  a  twofold  hatred  of  English  rule — political 
and  religious  —  was  kept  in  active  existence,  and  the 
people,  not  allowed  to  exercise  a  trade,  naturally  drifted 
into  habits  of  indolence  and  indifference,  having  ceased 
to  hope  for  any  amelioration  of  their  condition. 

Having  recorded  all  these  evil  deeds  of  the  past,  we 
may  remember  with  satisfaction,  not  only  that  they  are 
past,  but  that  they  have  been  condemned,  if  not  by 
the  immediate  actors,  at  least  by  their  descendants.  A 
man  is  no  longer  prohibited  from  exercising  an  honest 
calling  because  his  religious  views  differ  from  those  of 
his  master ;  parents  are  no  longer  denied  the  privilege 
of  educating  their  children  in  their  own  creed,  and  such 
a  violation  of  honor  and  principle  as  that  which  occurred 
in  connection  with  the  treaty  of  Limerick,  can  never 
again  occur  to  mar  the  harmony  of  the  nation. 

The  Parliament  which  sat  in  Dublin  was  quite  willing 
to  put  down  Popery  and  to  take  the  property  of  Cath- 
olics, although  it  was  not  so  willing  to  submit  to  Eng- 
lish rule  in  other  matters.  In  1698  Mr.  Molyneux,  one 
of  the  members  for  the  university  of  Dublin,  published  a 
a  work,  entitled,  The  Case  of  Ireland's  being  bound 
by  Acts  of  Parliament  in  England  stated."  But  Mr. 
Molyneux's  book  was  condemned  by  the  English  Parlia- 
ment; and  after  a  faint  show  of  resistance,  the  Irish 
members  succumbed.  The  next  act  of  the  English  Par- 
liament was  to  suppress  the  woollen  trade  in  Ireland. 
In  1698  they  passed  a  law  for  the  prevention  of  tho 
exportation  of  wool  and  of  woollen  manufactures  from 


REIGN  OF  QUEEN  ANNE. 


369 


Ireland,  "under  the  forfeiture  of  goods  and  ship,  and  a 
penalty  of  500Z.  for  every  such  offence. "  The  penal 
laws  had  made  it  "  an  offence  "  for  a  man  to  practise  his 
religion,  or  to  educate  his  children  either  in  Ireland  or 
abroad  ;  the  trade  laws  made  it  "  an  offence  99  for  a  man 
to  earn  his  bread  in  an  honest  calling.  The  lower  class 
of  Protestants  were  the  principal  sufferers  by  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  woollen  trade  ;  it  had  been  carried  on  by  them 
almost  exclusively ;  and  it  is  said  that  forty  thousand 
persons  were  reduced  to  utter  destitution  by  this  one 
enactment.  In  addition  to  this,  navigation  laws  were 
passed,  which  prohibited  Irish  merchants  from  trading 
beyond  seas  in  any  ships  except  those  which  were  built 
in  England.  The  embargo  laws  followed,  of  which  twen- 
ty-two were  passed  at  different  periods  during  forty 
years.  They  forbade  Irish  merchants,  whether  Protes- 
tant or  Catholic,  to  trade  with  any  foreign  nation,  or 
with  any  British  colony,  direct — to  export  or  import 
any  article,  except  to  or  from  British  merchants  resident 
in  England.  Ireland,  however,  was  allowed  one  con- 
solation, and  this  was  the  permission  to  import  rum, 
duty  free.  Probably  none  of  the  honorable  members 
who  voted  such  laws  had  the  deliberate  intention  of 
making  the  Irish  a  nation  of  beggars  and  drunkards; 
but  if  the  Irish  did  not  become  such,  it  certainly  was  not 
the  fault  of  those  who  legislated  for  their  own  benefit, 
and,  as  far  as  they  had  the  power  to  do  so,  for  her  ruin, 
politically  and  socially. 

William  had  exercised  his  royal  prerogative  by  dispos- 
ing, according  to  his  own  inclination,  of  the  estates  for- 
feited by  those  who  had  fought  for  king  James's  cause. 
His  favorite,  Mrs.  Yilliers,  obtained  property  worth 
25,O0OZ.  per  annum.  In  1699  the  English  Parliament 
began  to  inquire  into  this  mattter,  and  the  Commons 
voted  that  "  the  advising  and  passing  of  the  said  grants 
was  highly  reflecting  upon  the  king's  honor." 

Anne  succeeded  to  the  English  throne  in  1702,  and 
the  following  year  the  Duke  of  Ormonde  was  sent  to  Ire- 
land as  lord  lieutenant.  The  house  of  commons  waited 
on  him  with  a  bill  "  to  prevent  the  further  growth  of 
Popery."  A  few  members  who  had  protested  against 
this  act  resigned  their  seats  ;  but  others  whose  opinions 
coincided  with  those  of  the  majority,  were  easily  found 


370 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


to  take  their  places.  The  queen's  Tory  advisers  objected 
to  these  strong  measures,  and  attempted  to  nullify  them, 
by  introducing  the  clause  known  as  the  "Sacramental 
Test/'  which  excludes  from  public  offices  all  who  refused 
to  receive  the  sacrament  according  to  the  forms  of  the 
Established  Church.  As  dissenters  from  that  Church 
had  great  influence  in  the  Irish  Parliament,  and  as  it 
was  well  known  that  their  abhorrence  of  the  Church 
which  had  been  established  by  law  was  little  short  of 
their  hatred  of  the  Church  which  had  been  suppressed 
by  law,  it  was  hoped  that  they  would  reject  the  bill. 
But  they  were  assured  that  they  would  not  be  required 
to  take  the  test,  and  with  this  assurance  they  passed 
the  act.  It  seems  to  those  who  look  back  on  such 
proceedings,  almost  a  marvel,  how  men,  whose  con- 
science forbade  them  to  receive  the  sacrament  according 
to  certain  rites,  and  who,  in  many  cases,  certainly  would 
have  resigned  property,  if  not  life,  sooner  than  act  con- 
trary to  their  religious  convictions,  should  have  been  so 
blindly  infatuated  as  to  compel  other  men,  as  far  as  they 
had  power  to  do  so,  to  violate  their  conscientious  con- 
victions. The  whole  history  of  religious  persecutions, 
wherever  and  however  carried  out,  is  certainly  one  of 
the  most  curious  phases  of  human  perversity  which  the 
philosopher  can  find  to  study. 

Two  of  the  gentlemen,  Sir  Toby  Butler  and  colonel 
Cusack,  who  had  signed  the  treaty  of  Limerick,  peti- 
tioned to  be  heard  by  counsel  against  the  bill.  But 
appeals  to  honor  and  to  justice  were  alike  in  vain,  when 
addressed  to  men  who  were  destitute  of  both.  The  peti- 
tioners were  dismissed  with  the  insulting  remark,  that  if 
they  suffered  from  the  act  it  was  their  own  fault,  since, 
if  they  complied  with  its  requirements,  honors  and  wealth 
were  at  their  command.  But  these  were  men  who 
would  not  violate  the  dictates  of  conscience  for  all  that 
the  world  could  bestow  upon  them,  and  of  this  one  would 
think  they  had  already  given  sufficient  proof.  The  bill 
was  passed  without  a  dissentient  voice ;  and  men  who 
would  themselves  have  rebelled  openly  and  violently  if 
the  sacramental  test  had  been  imposed  On  them,  and  who 
would  have  talked  loudly  of  liberty  of  conscience,  and 
the  blasphemy  of  interfering  with  anyone's  religious  con- 
victions, now,  without  a  shadow  of  hesitation,  imposed 


JONATHAN*  SWIFT. 


Stl 


grievous  restrictions  on  others,  forgetting  that  they 
might  be  themselves  in  turn  oppressed  by  those  who 
were  in  power. 

A  new  phase  in  Jrish  history  was  brought  about  by 
the  versatile  talents,  and  strong  will  in  their  exercise, 
which  characterized  the  famous  Jonathan  Swift.  The 
quarrels  between  Whigs  and  Tories  were  at  their  height. 
Swift  is  said  to  have  been  a  Whig  in  politics  and  a  Tory 
in  religion.  lie  now  began  to  write  as  a  patriot ;  and  in 
his  famous  "  Drapier's  Letters"  told  the  government  of 
the  day  some  truths  which  were  more  plain  than  pal- 
atable. An  Englishman  named  Wood  had  obtained  a 
patent  under  the  broad  seal,  in  1723,  for  the  coinage  of 
copper  halfpence.  Even  the  servile  Parliament  were  in- 
dignant, and  protested  against  a  scheme  which  promised 
to  flood  Ireland  with  bad  coin,  and  thus  to  add  still  more 
to  its  already  impoverished  condition.  There  was  rea- 
son for  anxiety.  The  South  Sea  bubble  had  lately  ruined 
thousands  in  England,  and  France  was  still  suffering 
from  the  Mississippi  scheme.  Speculations  of  all  kinds 
were  afloat,  and  a  temporary  mania  seemed  to  have  de- 
prived the  soberest  people  of  their  ordinary  judgment. 
Dr.  Hugh  Boulter,  an  Englishman,  was  made  archbishop 
of  Armagh,  and  sent  over  mainly  to  attend  to  the  Eng- 
lish interest  in  Ireland.  But  he  was  unable  to  control 
popular  feeling ;  and  Swift's  letters  accomplished  what 
the  Irish  Parliament  was  powerless  to  effect.  Although 
it  was  well  known  that  he  was  the  author  of  these  let- 
ters, and  though  a  reward  of  300Z.  was  offered  for  the 
discovery  of  the  secret,  he  escaped  unpunished.  In  1725 
the  patent  was  withdrawn,  and  Wood  received  3,0001. 
a  year  for  twelve  years  as  an  indemnification  —  an  evi- 
dence that  he  must  have  given  a  very  large  bribe  for  the 
original  permission,  and  that  he  expected  to  make  more 
by  it  than  could  have  been  made  honestly.  One  of  the 
subjects  on  which  Swift  wrote  most  pointedly  and  ef- 
fectively was  that  of  absentees.  He  employed  both  facts 
and  ridicule;  but  each  were  equally  in  vain.  He  de- 
scribed the  wretched  state  of  the  country ;  but  his  elo- 
quence was  unheeded.  He  gave  ludicrous  illustrations 
of  the  extreme  ignorance  of  those  who  governed  in 
regard  to  those  whom  they  governed,  but  he  failed  to 
attain  his  object. 


372 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


George  I.  died  at  Osnaburg,  in  Germany,  on  June  10, 
1727.  On  the  accession  of  his  successor,  the  Catholics 
offered  an  address  expressing  their  loyalty,  but  the  lords 
justices  took  care  that  it  should  never  reach  England. 
The  next  events  of  importance  were  the  zealous  efforts 
made  by  Dr.  Boulter,  the  Protestant  primate,  to  estab- 
lish charter  schools,  where  Catholic  children  might  be 
educated,  and  to  prevent  Catholics,  who  had  conformed 
exteriorly  to  the  State  religion,  from  being  admitted  to 
practise  at  the  Bar. 

The  country  was  suffering  at  this  period  from  the  most 
fearful  distress.  There  were  many  causes  for  this  state 
of  destitution,  which  were  quite  obvious  to  all  but  those 
who  were  interested  in  maintaining  it.  The  poorer 
classes,  being  almost  exclusively  Catholics,  had  been 
deprived  of  every  means  of  support.  Trade  was  crushed, 
so  that  they  could  not  become  traders ;  agriculture  was 
not  permitted,  so  that  they  could  not  become  agricul- 
turists. There  was,  in  fact,  no  resource  for  the  majority 
but  to  emigrate,  to  steal,  or  to  starve.  To  a  people 
whose  religion  always  had  a  preponderating  influence 
on  their  moral  conduct,  the  last  alternative  only  was 
available,  as  there  were  not  the  same  facilities  for  emi- 
gration then  as  now.  The  cultivation  of  the  potatoe  had 
already  become  general ;  it  was,  indeed,  the  only  way 
of  obtaining  food  left  to  these  unfortunates.  They  were 
easily  planted,  easily  reared ;  and  to  men  liable  at  any 
moment  to  be  driven  from  their  miserable  holdings,  if 
they  attempted  to  effect  improvements,  or  to  plant  such 
crops  as  might  attract  the  rapacity  of  their  landlords, 
they  were  an  invaluable  resource.  The  man  might  live 
who  ate  nothing  but  potatoes  all  the  year  round,  but  he 
could  scarcely  be  envied  or  ejected  for  his  wealth.  In 
1739  a  severe  frost  destroyed  the  entire  crop,  and  a 
frightful  famine  ensued,  in  which  it  was  estimated  that 
four  hundred  thousand  persons  perished  of  starvation. 

In  1747  George  Stone  succeeded  Dr.  Hoadley  as  pri- 
mate of  Ireland.  His  appointment  was  made  evidently 
more  in  view  of  temporals  than  spirituals,  and  he  acted 
accordingly.  Another  undignified  squabble  took  place 
in  1751  and  1753,  between  the  English  and  Irish  Parlia- 
ments, on  the  question  of  privilege.  For  a  time  the 
"  patriot 99  or  Irish  party  prevailed  ;  but  eventually  they 


THE  IRISH  BRIGADE. 


373 


yielded  to  the  temptation  of  bribery  and  place.  Henry 
Boyle,  the  Speaker,  was  silenced  by  being  made  earl  of 
Shannon  ;  Anthony  Malone  was  made  chancellor  of  the 
exchequer  ;  and  the  opposition  party  was  quietly  broken 
up. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  the  flower  of  the  Irish 
army  entered  the  service  of  France  after  the  siege  of 
Limerick.  That  gallant  body  of  men,  nineteen  thousand 
strong,  soon  rendered  themselves  famous  in  continental 
history.  They  signalized  themselves  by  their  bravery, 
till  the  Irish  Brigade  became  a  word  of  terror  to  its  ene- 
mies. The  French  government  highly  valued  the  ser- 
vices of  their  gallant  allies,  and  resolved  to  keep  up  the 
strength  and  efficiency  of  the  force  by  systematic  recruit- 
ing. A  regular  traffic  was  accordingly  commenced  and 
carried  on  from  most  of  the  seaports  in  the  south  of  Ire- 
land—  contractors  for  recruits  undertaking  to  supply  a 
certain  number  of  men,  and  providing  vessels  for  their 
transport.  Those  who  voluntarily  embarked  as  recruits 
were  known  by  the  name  of  "  Wild  Geese;"  but  the 
rewards  held  out  by  the  contractors  were  so  tempting, 
that  it  is  to  be  feared  kidnapping  was  employed  in  many 
places,  and  young  men  were  seized  and  sent  off  by  force 
in  order  to  complete  the  number  that  the  contractors 
had  engaged  to  provide.  Proclamations  against  this 
system  of  recruiting  for  foreign  service  were  often  issued 
by  the  government,  but  invariably  without  effect :  the 
exportations  of  recruits  went  on  just  as  before. 

It  was  not,  however,  until  after  the  famous  battle  of 
Fontenoy,  in  which  the  British  army  were  completely 
defeated,  chiefly  .by  the  efforts  of  the  Irish  Brigade,  that 
the  attention  of  the  English  government  was  drawn  to 
the  impolicy  of  allowing  France  to  avail  herself  of  the 
military  resources  of  Ireland. 

The  honorable  method  would  have  been  to  hold  out  to 
the  Irish  the  offer  of  civil  privileges,  and  the  enjoyment 
of  their  religion  at  home,  together  with  a  fair  prospect  of 
advancement  in  the  service  of  Britain,  such  as  they  enjoy 
in  foreign  countries.  But  this  did  not  suit  the  purposes 
of  the  Irish  ascendency,  or  of  the  English  government. 
They,  accordingly,  adopted  the  mean  and  vindictive 
method  of  driving  them,  if  possible,  from  the  French 
armies  ;  and  now  passed  an  act  disabling  all  Irish  officers 


374 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


and  soldiers  that  had  been  in  the  service  of  France  or 
Spain  since  the  18th  of  October,  1745,  from  holding  any 
real  or  personal  property  in  Ireland,  and  that  any  real  or 
personal  property  in  possession,  reversion,  or  expect- 
ancy, should  belong  to  the  first  Protestant  discoverer. 
The  Irish  officers  and  soldiers,  however,  despised  this 
impotent  malice  of  the  government,  and  shortly  after- 
wards they  mainly  contributed  to  the  overthrow  of  the 
British  army  at  Lafelt,  which  decided  the  fate  of  the 
war,  and  compelled  Great  Britain  to  accede  to  an  inglo- 
rious peace.1 

The  Abbe  M'Geoghegan  supplies  the  following  sketch 
of  the  heroic  men,  who  so  bravely  won  a  charter  for 
their  country  in  the  face  of  death  :  — 

"  The  troops  which  had  lately  arrived  in  France,  after 
the  treaty  of  Limerick,  were  new-modelled  in  1695,  and 
reduced  to  twelve  regiments,  the  command  of  which  was 
given  to  those  who  had  most  influence  at  the  court  of 
St.  Germain.  These  regiments,  called  1  the  troops  of 
king  James/  were, — 

"  The  king's  regiment  of  cavalry  —  Lord  Galmoy,  col- 
onel;  Edmund  Prendergast,  lieutenant-colonel;  Edmund 
Butler,  major. 

"The  queen's  regiment  of  cavalry  —  Lord  Galmoy, 
colonel ;  Ken^  de  Carn^  (a  Frenchman),  lieutenant-colo- 
nel;  James  Tobin,  major. 

"  The  king's  regiment  of  dragoons  —  Lord  Viscount 
Kilmallock  (Sarsfield),  colonel ;  Turenne  O'Carroll,  lieu- 
tenant-colonel;  De  Salles  (a  Frenchman),  major. 

"The  queen's  regiment  of  dragoons  —  Charles  Vis- 
count Clare,  colonel;  Alexander  Barnwal,  lieutenant- 
colonel  ;  Charles  Maxwell,  major. 

"The  king's  infantry  regiment  of  guards  —  William 

1  The  writer  of  the  present  work  finds  amongst  the  long^rSle  of  her 
ancestors  who  were  devoted  to  the  service  of  Ireland,  the  names  of 
several  of  the  most  distinguished  members  of  the  Irish  Brigade.  Mr. 
O'Calhighan,  in  his  History  of  the  Irish  Brigades  in  the  Service  of  France, 
which  has  just  been  issued  from  the  press,  writes  thus :—  "  In  this  year 
also(1770)  died  a  distinguished  officer  of  the  Irish  Brigade,  the  Marechal 
de  Camp  and  Chevalier  Richard  Edmund  de  Cusack.  He  was  the  son 
of  Richard  Cusack,  who  retired  to  Spain  after  the  battle  of  Worces- 
ter, where  he  fought  on  the  royalist  side.  The  Chevalier  Cusack 
served  with  such  distinction  at  Fbntenoy  that  he  was  made  Brigadier 
of  the  armies  of  the  king.  His  brother,  Charles  Cusack,  died  gover- 
nor of  Melazzo,  in  Sicily,  and  another  brother,  Gerald,  was  Chevalier 
of  St.  Louis,  and  colonel  of  the  Irish  regiment  of  Roth. 

Colonel  Cusack,  who  signed  the  treaty  of  Limerick  on  the  national 
side,  has  already  been  mentioned,  as  well  as  Lord  Chancellor  Cusack, 
Who  was  accused  of  poisoning  Shane  O'-Neil, 


THE  IRISH  TROOPS  WHO  FOUGHT  FOR  FRANCE.  315 


Dorington,  colonel;  Oliver  O'Gara,  lieutenant-colonel; 
John  Rothe,  major. 

"  The  queen's  regiment  of  infantry  —  Simon  Luttrel, 
colonel;  Francis  Wachop,  lieutenant-colonel;  James 
O'Brien,  major. 

"  An  infantry  regiment  of  marines  —  The  Lord  Grand- 
prior,  colonel ;  Nicholas  FitzGerald,  lieutenant-colonel ; 
Richard  Nugent,  second  lieutenant-colonel;  Edmund 
O'Madden,  major. 

"  The  Limerick  regiment  of  infantry  —  Sir  John  Fitz- 
Gerald, colonel;  Jeremiah  O'Mahony,  lieutenant-colo- 
nel ;  William  Thessy,  major. 

"The  Charlemont  regiment  of  infantry  —  Gordon 
O'Neil,  colonel;  Hugh  McMahon,  lieutenant-colonel; 
Edmund  Murphy,  major. 

"  Dublin  regiment  of  infantry  —  John  Power,  colonel ; 
John  Power,  lieutenant-colonel ;  Theobald  Burke,  major. 

M  The  Athlone  regiment  of  infantry  —  Walter  Burke, 
colonel ;  Owen  McCarthy,  lieutenant-colonel ;  Edmund 
Cantwell,  major. 

"  Clancarty  regiment  of  infantry  —  Roger  McElligot, 
colonel;  Edward  Scott,  lieutenant-colonel;  Cornelius 
Murphy,  major. 

"  Out  of  the  regiments  which  the  Irish  nobility  had 
raised  in  1689  for  the  service  of  James  II.,  several  were 
disbanded  in  Ireland.  Most  of  those  who  went  to 
France  were  embodied  with  those  we  have  just  been  enu- 
merating; the  colonels  descending  to  the  rank  of  cap- 
tains, and  the  captains  to  that  of  lieutenants.  The 
regiments  of  O'Neill,  O'Donnel,  MacDonnel,  Maguire, 
McMahon,  Magennis,  were  formed  into  one ;  Edmund 
(Bouy)  O'Reilly's  shared  the  same  fate. 

'!  The  regiments  of  Burke  and  Dillon  were  engaged  at 
the  battle  of  Cremona,  February,  1702,  in  which  they 
particularly  distinguished  themselves,  and  contributed 
mainly  to  the  defeat  of  the  enemy.  As  a  mark  of  his 
satisfaction,  the  king  increased  the  pay  of  the  foot-cap- 
tains, not  only  of  these  regiments,  but  of  three  others 
which  were  on  a  footing  with  the  French,  to  twenty-five 
pence  a  day,  and  the  lieutenants  to  twelve  pence.  The 
soldiers  also  received  one  penny  a  day  additional.  Dil- 
lon's regiment  received  their  reward  in  hand,  as  they 
already  had  high  pay. 


376 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


"  Sheldon's  regiment  of  cavalry,  to  which  a  squadron 
was  added,  consisted  of  three  squadrons  in  the  war  of 
1700.  They  distinguished  themselves  at  the  battle  of 
Spire  on  the  24th  of  November,  1703  ;  the  half-pay  cap- 
tains and  lieutenants  who  served  with  it  received  an  in- 
crease of  pay. 

"  In  1708  the  king  of  Spain  began  to  raise  two  regi- 
ments of  dragoons,  and  three  Irish  battalions,  consisting 
of  the  prisoners  taken  from  the  English  army  in  the 
battle  of  Almanza.  These  corps  were  officered  by  the 
half-pay  officers  who  had  served  with  the  Irish  regiments 
in  France. 

u  Peace  having  been  concluded  at  Radstadt,  on  the 
6th  of  March,  1714,  between  France  and  the  emperor, 
the  regiments  of  Lee,  Clare,  Dillon,  Rothe,  and  Berwick, 
were  increased  from  twelve  to  fifteen  companies,  con- 
sisting each  of  forty  men.  In  order  to  make  up  the 
three  new  companies,  the  regiments  of  O'Donnel,  which 
had  previously  belonged  to  Fitzgerald  and  Galmoy,  and 
a  second  battalion,  which  was  added  to  Berwick's,  were 
disbanded.  O'Donnel's  was  divided  between  the  reg- 
iments of  Lee  and  Clare  ;  Galmoy's  and  Berwick's  second 
battalion  were  joined  to  those  of  Dillon,  Rothe,  and  Ber- 
wick. 

"From  calculations  and  researches  that  have  been 
made  at  the  war  office,  it  has  been  ascertained  that  from 
the  arrival  of  the  Irish  troops  in  France  in  1691  to  1745, 
the  year  of  the  battle  of  Fontenoy,  more  than  four  hun- 
dred and  fifty  thousand  Irishmen  died  in  the  service  of 
France  (independent  of  which,  nearly  an  equal  number 
entered  the  service  of  Germany,  Spain  and  Hungary). 

u  Bourke  applied  for,  and  obtained,  permission  for  his 
regiment,  which  had  often  served  in  Spain  (in  order  to 
avoid  shifting),  to  offer  its  services  to  the  king  of  Spain. 
This  being  granted,  he  proceeded  to  that  country,  and 
subsequently  served  with  distinction  in  Sicily,  Africa, 
and  Italy,  during  the  war  of  1733,  under  the  king  of  the 
two  Sicilies,  to  whom  his  father,  the  king  of  Spain,  had 
sent  him  in  the  year  1758.  Burke's  regiment  remained 
in  Naples,  it  was  called  the  king's  corps,  and  received 
an  addition  of  two  battalions. 

"  Through  the  changes  which  took  place  among  the 
Irish  troops  in  France,  the  king  of  Spain  was  enabled  to 


THE  IRISH  TROOPS  IN  FOREIGN  SERVICE. 


877 


increase  his  three  Irish  regiments  of  foot  by  a  battalion 
each,  so  that  he  had  six  made  tip  of  the  supernumerary 
men  who  remained  employed  in  France.  They  served 
at  Oran,  in  Sicily,  and  in  Italy  in  1733  and  1734,  with 
the  highest  distinction.  Four  of  these  battalions,  with 
the  Walloon  guards,  were  successful,  in  1713,  in  repuls- 
ing the  enemy  at  Veletry,  and  in  saving  Don  Philip,  who 
was  in  danger  of  being  taken  prisoner." 


378 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

A.D.  1757  TO  A.  D.  1798. 

Contemporary  Events  :— Battle  of  Minden— Death  of  General  Wolfe, 
and  Conquest  of  Canada— England  declares  War  with  Spain- 
Joseph  II.  Emperor  of  Germany— Gustavus  III.  Emperor  of  Swe- 
den—Clement XIV.  Pope— Dismemberment  of  Poland— American 
War— Bombardment  of  Gibraltar— Death  of  Frederic  the  Great  of 
Prussia — Capture  of  the  Bastile— Louis  XVI.  and  Marie  Antoin- 
ette guillotined— Battle  of  the  Nile. 

The  Catholics  now,  for  the  first  time,  made  an  attempt 
to  form  a  society  which,  by  exerting  a  uniform  and  con- 
stitutional pressure  on  the  government,  might  help  to 
obtain  the  justice  so  long  denied  them.  Dr.  Curry,  a 
physician  practising  in  Dublin,  and  the  author  of  the 
well-known  "Historical  and  Critical  Review  of  the  Civil 
Wars  of  Ireland/7  Charles  O'Connor,  of  Belanagar,  the 
Irish  antiquary,  and  Mr.  Wyse,  of  Waterford,  were  the 
projectors  and  promoters  of  this  scheme.  The  clergy 
stood  aloof  from  it,  fearing  to  lose  any  liberty  they  still 
possessed  if  they  demanded  more  ;  the  aristocracy  held 
back,  fearing  to  forfeit  what  little  property  yet  remained 
to  them,  if  they  gave  the  least  excuse  for  fresh  "  settle- 
ments "  or  plunderings.  A  few  Catholic  merchants,  how- 
ever, joined  the  three  friends ;  and  in  conjunction  they 
prepared  an  address  to  the  duke  of  Bedford,  who  was 
appointed  lord  lieutenant  in  1757.  The  address  was 
favorably  received,  and  an  answer  returned  after  some 
time.  The  government  already  had  apprehensions  of  a 
French  invasion,  and  it  was  deemed  politic  to  give  the 
Catholics  some  encouragement,  however  faint.  It  is  at 
least  certain,  that  the  reply  declared  "  the  zeal  and 
attachment  which  they  (the  Catholics)  professed,  would 
never  be  more  seasonably  manifested  than  at  the  pres- 
ent juncture. "  No  immediate  advantages  followed,  but 
Catholics  were  henceforth  allowed  the  right  of  meeting 


THE  IRISH  BRIGADE. 


379 


and  petitioning,  which  was  an  important  step  towards 
the  attainment  of  the  concessions  subsequently  granted. 

In  1759  a  rumor  broke  out  in  Dublin  that  a  legislative 
union  was  in  contemplation  by  the  primate  and  his  fac- 
tion. On  the  3rd  of  December  the  citizens  rose  en  masse, 
and  surrounded  the  houses  of  Parliament.  They  stopped 
the  carriages  cf  members,  and  obliged  them  to  swear 
opposition  to  such  a  measure.  Some  of  the  Protestant 
bishops  and  the  lord  chancellor  were  roughly  handled  ; 
a  privy  councillor  was  thrown  into  the  river ;  the  attor- 
ney-general was  wounded  and  obliged  to  take  refuge  in 
the  college  ;  lord  Inchiquin  was  abused  till  he  said  his 
name  was  O'Brien,  when  the  rage  of  the  people  "  was 
turned  into  acclamations/7  The  Speaker,  Mr.  Ponsonby, 
and  the  chief  secretary,  Mr.  Rigby,  had  to  appear  in 
the  porch  of  the  house  of  commons,  solemnly  to  assure 
the  citizens  that  no  union  was  dreamed  of,  and,  if  it  was 
proposed,  that  they  would  be  the  first  to  resist  it.  Pub- 
lic spirit  had  evidently  grown  bold  and  confident,  and 
we  can  well  believe  secretary  Rigby  when  he  writes  to 
the  elder  Pitt,  that  "the  mob  "  declared,  "since  they 
have  no  chance  of  numbers  in  the  house,  they  must  have 
recourse  to  numbers  out  of  doors." 

George  II.  died  suddenly  at  Kensington,  and  was  suc- 
ceeded by  George  III.,  in  October,  1760.  The  predilec- 
tions of  the  late  king  for  his  German  connections  had 
led  him  into  war  both  with  France  and  Spain ;  the 
imprudence  of  ministers,  if  not  the  unwise  and  unjust 
policy  of  colonial  government,  involved  the  country 
soon  after  in  a  conflict  with  the  American  dependencies. 
In  each  of  these  cases,  expatriated  Irishmen  turned  the 
scale  against  the  country  from  which  they  had  been  so 
rashly  and  cruelly  ejected.  In  France,  the  battle  of 
Fontenoy  was  won  mainly  by  the  Irish  Brigade,  who 
were  commanded  by  colonel  Dillon  ;  and  the  defeat  of 
England  by  the  Irish  drew  from  George  II.  the  well- 
known  exclamation  :  c<  Cursed  be  the  laws  that  deprive 
me  of  such  subjects  ! 19  In  Spain,  where  the  Irish  offi- 
cers and  soldiers  had  emigrated  by  thousands,  there  was 
scarcely  an  engagement  in  which  they  did  not  take  a 
prominent  and  decisive  part.  In  Canada  the  agitation 
against  British  exactions  was  commenced  by  Charles 
Thompson,  an  Irish  emigrant,  and  subsequently  the  sec- 


380 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


retary  of  Congress.  Montgomery,  another  Irishman, 
captured  Montreal  and  Quebec.  O'Brien  and  Barry, 
whose  names  sufficiently  indicate  their  nationality,  were 
the  first  to  command  in  the  naval  engagements ;  and 
startled  England  began  to  recover  slowly  and  sadly  from 
her  long  infatuation,  to  discover  what  had,  indeed,  been 
discovered  by  the  sharp -sighted  Schomberg  and  his 
master  long  before,  that  Irishmen,  from  their  habits  of 
endurance  and  undaunted  courage,  were  the  best  sol- 
diers she  could  find,  and  that,  Celts  and  Papists  as  they 
were,  her  very  existence  as  a  nation  might  depend  upon 
their  co-operation. 

The  agrarian  outrages,  the  perpetrators  of  which  were 
known  at  first  by  the  name  of  Levellers,  and  eventually 
by  the  appellation  of  Whiteboys,  commenced  immedi- 
ately after  the  accession  of  George  III.  An  English 
traveller,  Arthur  Young,  who  carefully  studied  the  sub- 
ject, and  who  certainly  could  have  been  in  no  way 
interested  in  misrepresentation,  has  thus  described  the 
cause  and  the  motive  of  the  atrocities  they  practised. 
The  first  cause  was  the  rapacity  of  the  landlords,  who, 
having  let  their  lands  far  above  their  value,  on  condition 
of  allowing  the  tenants  the  use  of  certain  commons,  now 
inclosed  the  commons,  but  did  not  lessen  the  rent. 
The  bricks  were  to  be  made,  but  the  straw  was  not  pro- 
vided ;  and  the  people  were  told  that  they  were  idle. 
The  second  cause  was  the  exactions  of  the  tithe-mongers, 
who  are  described  by  this  English  writer  as  "  harpies 
who  squeezed  out  the  very  vitals  of  the  people,  and  by 
process,  citation,  and  sequestration,  dragged  from  them 
the  little  which  the  landlord  had  left  them."  It  was  hard 
for  those  who  had  been  once  owners  of  the  soil  to  be 
obliged  to  support  the  intruders  into  their  property  in 
affluence ;  while  they,  with  even  the  most  strenuous 
efforts,  could  barely  obtain  what  would  keep  them  from 
starvation.  It  was  still  harder  that  men,  who  had  sac- 
rificed their  position  in  society  and  their  worldly  pros- 
pects, for  the  sake  of  their  religion,  should  be  obliged  to 
support  clergj'men  and  their  families,  some  of  whom 
never  resided  in  the  parishes  from  which  they  obtained 
tithes,  and  many  of  whom  could  not  count  above  half- 
a-dozen  persons  as  regular  members  of  their  congrega- 
tion. 


COMMENCEMENT  OF  AGRARIAN  OUTRAGES.  381 

Arthur  Young  thus  suggests  a  remedy  for  these  crimes, 
which  he  says  were  punished  with  a  "  severity  which 
seemed  calculated  for  the  meridian  of  Barbary,  while 
others  remain  yet  the  law  of  the  land,  which  would,  if 
executed,  tend  more  to  raise  than  to  quell  an  insurrec- 
tion. From  all  which  it  is  manifest  that  the  gentlemen 
of  Ireland  never  thought  of  a  radical  cure,  from  over- 
looking the  real  cause  of  disease,  which,  in  fact,  lay  in 
themselves,  and  not  in  the  wretches  they  doomed  to  the 
gallows.  Let  them  change  their  own  conduct  entirely, 
and  the  poor  will  not  long  riot.  Treat  them  like  men, 
who  ought  to  be  as  free  as  yourselves  ;  put  an  end  to 
that  system  of  religious  persecution,  which,  for  seventy 
3^ears,  has  divided  the  kingdom  against  itself — in  these 
two  circumstances  lies  the  cure  of  insurrection  ;  perform 
them  completely,  and  you  will  effect  a  cure.;; 

How  purely  these  outrages  were  the  deeds  of  des- 
perate men,  who  had  been  made  desperate  by  cruel  op- 
pression, and  insensible  to  cruelty  by  cruel  wrongs,  is 
evident  from  the  dying  declaration  of  five  Whiteboys, 
who  were  executed  in  1762,  at  Waterford,  and  who 
publicly  declared,  and  took  God  to  witness,  "that  in  all 
these  tumults  it  never  did  enter  into  their  thoughts  to  do 
anything  against  the  king  or  government. " 

It  was  at  this  period,  and  from  these  causes,  that 
secret  societies  first  commenced  in  Ireland.  It  cannot 
now  be  ascertained  who  first  began  these  unhappy  con- 
spiracies. Until  this  period,  whatever  resistance  had 
been  made  to  lawful  rule  was  made  openly,  and  the 
mass  of  the  people  who  joined  in  such  resistance  were 
led  by  gentlemen  of  position.  At  this  period,  however, 
Catholics  of  the  upper  classes  were  obtaining  greater 
freedom  of  conscience,  and  had  hopes  of  further  amelio- 
ration of  their  unfortunate  condition.  The  clergy  als<* 
were,  if  not  tolerated,  at  least  not  persecuted  openly. 
Each  were  sufficiently  alive  to  these  advantages,  and 
to  the  probability  that  they  would  be  irreparably  lost 
if  more  were  demanded  by  force  of  arms,  or  combinations 
for  violent  resistance.  But  it  was  not  so  with  the  peo- 
ple :  their  condition  was  worse  than  it  ever  had  been, 
and  as  they  could  not  find  leaders  of  position  to  help 
them  in  their  efforts  to  obtain  redress,  they  had  recourse 


382 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


to  secret  oaths,  midnight  meetings,  and  acts  of  stealthy 
revenge. 

These  men  do  not  appear  to  have  given  themselves 
any  distinctive  appellation  ;  but  they  were  called  White- 
boys  by  the  people,  because  they  wore  white  sheets 
over  their  clothes,  either  as  a  badge  of  union,  or  to  make 
it  more  difficult  to  recognize  individuals  :  and  Levellers, 
because  their  first  object  was  to  level  the  fences  by 
which  the  cattle  lands  were  now  enclosed  from  the 
people. 

A  letter  from  a  gentleman  in  Toughal  to  his  son  in 
London,  printed  in  the  "  Gentleman's  Magazine "  for 
April,  1762,  says  that  the  Whiteboys  "all  along  pretend 
that  their  assembling  was  to  do  justice  to  the  poor, 
by  restoring  the  ancient  commons,  and  redressing  other 
grievances. A  letter  from  Mr.  O'Connor  to  Dr.  Curry, 
dated  June  4,  1762,  gives  a  similar  account  of  the  ob- 
ject of  these  disturbances  : 

"  In  relation  to  the  disorders  of  the  poor  in  Munster, 
1  assured  Dr.  Warner  that  they  proceeded  from  the 
throwing  of  that  province,  like  Connaught  and  Leinster, 
into  pasture  enclosures,  which  excluded  these  poor,  and 
reduced  them  into  a  state  of  desperation,  and  into  that 
rage  which  despair  on  such  occasions  will  dictate.  I 
told  him,  that  the  whole  proceeded  from  laws  which 
gave  the  better  sort  of  the  people  no  occupation  in  the 
inland  counties  but  pasturage  alone  ;  agriculture  being 
virtually  forbid  on  account  of  the  shortness  of  their 
tenures.  That,  in  such  a  state,  Papists  worry  Papists, 
the  rich  excluding  the  poorer  sort  to  make  room  for 
flocks  and  herds,  which  are  easily  converted  into  ready 
money,  and  find  a  ready  market." 

There  was  a  special  reason  why  cattle  were  excep- 
tionally valuable  at  this  period.  There  had  been  in  Eng- 
land for  several  years  a  murrain  amongst  horned  cattle, 
which  had  originated  in  Germany  and  Holland.  Hence 
there  was  a  great  foreign  demand  for  butter  and  beef, 
and  the  value  of  these  exports  was  proportionably  great. 
As  ground  appropriated  to  grazing  became  more  and 
more  valuable,  cottiers,  being  tenants  at  will,  were  every- 
where ejected  from  their  little  holdings,  which  were  let 
by  the  landlords  to  contractors  who  took  large  tracts  of 


FATHER  SFJEEHY. 


383 


and,  and  paid  high  prices  for  them.  Thus  even  whole 
baronies  were  turned  into  pastures.  Some  of  those  who 
were  ejected  fled  to  large  cities,  but  even  here  the  Penal 
Laws  met  them,  and  they  were  unable  to  obtain  employ- 
ment. A  few  had  recourse  to  emigration,  but  emigra- 
tion then  was  not  as  feasible  as  it  is  now.  Those  who 
remained  in  the  country  rented  a  small  spot  of  land,  at 
most  an  acre,  at  an  exorbitant  price,  which  enabled  them 
to  keep  their  families  from  actual  starvation,  but  could 
not  supply  the  necessaries  of  life.  The  wages  of  the 
laborer  still  remained  the  same,  so  that  the  poorest  were 
in  all  cases  the  greatest  sufferers. 

Thus  was  set  up  that  unhappy  system  which,  from 
time  to  time,  has  ever  since  appeared  in  Ireland  under 
various  names,  but  with  the  same  object,  and  using 
the  same  means  —  intimidation,  threatening  notices,  and 
punishment  for  disobedience  to  orders  by  destruction 
of  property,  personal  violence,  or  murder.  An  official 
declaration  was  inserted  in  the  Dublin  and  London 
"Gazettes,"  after  a  commission  of  lawyers  had  investi- 
gated some  cases,  which  said  that  "  the  authors  of  these 
disturbances  have  consisted  indiscriminately  of  persons 
of  different  persuasions,  and  that  no  marks  of  disaffec- 
tion to  his  majesty's  person  or  government  have  been 
discovered  upon  this  occasion  in  any  class  of  people." 
The  fact  was,  that  people  only  wanted  the  means  of  liv- 
ing, and  they  attributed  their  difficulties  to  the  nearest 
landlord,  rather  than  to  the  government  which  permitted 
the  landlord  to  exercise  what  they  considered  grave  in- 
justice. Those  who  were  interested  in  denying  the  real 
cause  of  these  outrages  declared,  first,  that  it  was  a 
Popish  plot,  and  then  that  it  was  a  plot  encouraged  by 
the  French.  But  the  Catholic  priesthood  had,  all  through, 
steadily  opposed  the  conspiracy,  even  at  the  risk  of  their 
lives,  and  no  proof  whatever  could  be  found  that  the 
French  nation  were  in  any  way  whatever  connected  with 
it.    One  priest,  however,  fell  a  victim  to  public  opinion. 

A  large  military  force,  under  the  marquis  of  Drogheda, 
was  accordingly  despatched  to  the  south.  The  marquis 
fixed  his  headquarters  at  Clogheen,  in  Tipperary,  the 
parish  priest  of  which  was  Nicholas  Sheehy.  The  mag- 
'  istracy  of  the  county,  especially  Sir  Thomas  Maude, 
William  Bagnell,  John  Bagwell,  Daniel  Toler,  and  Par- 


384 


COMPENDIUM  OP  IRISH  HISTORY. 


son  Hewitson,  were  among  the  chief  maintainers  of  the 
existence  of  a  Popish  plot,  to  bring  in  the  F rench  and 
the  Pretender.  Father  Sheehy  had  interfered  with  more 
zeal  than  prudence,  in  the  vain  hope  of  protecting  his 
unfortunate  parishioners  from  injustice  ;  and,  in  return, 
he  was  himself  made  the  victim  of  injustice.  He  was 
accused  of  encouraging  a  French  invasion  —  a  fear  which 
was  always  present  to  the  minds  of  the  rulers,  as  they 
could  not  but  know  that  the  Irish  had  every  reason  to 
seek  for  foreign  aid  to  free  them  from  domestic  wrongs. 
He  was  accused  of  encouraging  the  Whiteboys,  because, 
while  he  denounced  their  crimes,  he  accused  those  who 
had  diiven  them  to  these  crimes  as  the  real  culprits. 
He  was  accused  of  treason,  and  a  reward  of  300Z.  was 
offered  for  his  apprehension.  Conscious  of  his  inno- 
cence, he  gave  himself  up  at  once  to  justice,  though  he 
might  easily  have  fled  the  country.  He  was  tried  in 
Dublin,  and  acquitted.  But  his  persecutors  were  not 
satisfied.  A  charge  of  murder  was  got  up  against  him  ; 
and  although  the  body  of  the  man  could  never  be  found, 
although  it  was  sworn  that  he  had  left  the  country, 
although  an  alibi  was  proved  for  the  priest,  he  was  con- 
demned and  executed.  A  gentleman  of  property  and 
position,  named  Keeting,  came  forward  at  the  trial  to 
prove  that  father  Sheehy  had  slept  in  his  house  the  very 
night  on  which  he  was  accused  of  having  committed  the 
murder ;  but  the  moment  he  appeared  in  court,  a  cler- 
gyman who  sat  on  the  bench  had  him  taken  into  custody, 
on  pretence  of  having  killed  a  corporal  and  a  sergeant 
in  a  riot.  The  pretence  answered  the  purpose.  After 
father  Sheehy's  execution,  Keeting  was  tried  ;  and,  as 
there  was  not  even  a  shadow  of  proof,  he  was  acquitted. 
But  it  was  too  late  to  save  the  victim. 

At  the  place  of  execution,  father  Sheehy  most  sol- 
emnly declared,  on  the  word  of  a  dying  man,  that  he  was 
not  guilty  either  of  murder  or  of  treason  ;  that  he  never 
had  any  intercourse,  either  directly  or  indirectly,  with 
the  French  ;  and  that  he  had  never  known  of  any  such 
intercourse  being  practised  by  others. 

The  three  witnesses  on  whose  evidence  he  was  con- 
demned were  persons  whose  evidence  had  been  already 
disbelieved  by  a  Dublin  jury  of  Protestants.    One  of  > 
these  witnesses  was  a  prostitute,  another  was  a  boy  of 


SECRET  SOCIETIES. 


385 


bad  character,  and  the  third  was  a  thief.  All  three  were 
in  jail,  at  the  time  of  father  Sheehy's  trial,  and  were 
taken  out  of  jail  to  give  evidence  against  him. 

"  Such,"  says  Dr.  Carey,  "  during  the  space  of  three 
years,  was  the  fearful  and  pitiable  state  of  the  Roman 
Catholics  of  Munster ;  and  so  general  did  the  panic  at 
length  become,  so  many  of  the  lower  sort  were  already 
hanged,  in  jail,  or  on  the  informers7  lists,  that  the  greater 
part  of  the  rest  fled  through  fear :  so  that  the  land  lay 
untilled,  for  want  of  hands  to  cultivate  it,  and  a  famine 
was,  with  reason,  apprehended.  As  for  the  better  sort, 
who  had  something  to  lose  (and  who  for  that  reason 
were  the  persons  chiefly  aimed  at  by  the  managers  of 
the  prosecution),  they  were  at  the  utmost  loss  how  to 
dispose  of  themselves.  If  they  left  the  country  their 
absence  was  construed  into  a  proof  of  their  guilt,  and  if 
they  remained  in  it  they  were  in  imminent  danger  of  hav- 
ing their  lives  sworn  away  by  informers  and  approvers; 
for  the  suborning  and  corrupting  of  witnesses  on  that 
occasion  was  frequent  and  barefaced,  to  a  degree  beyond 
all  belief." 

From  the  first,  the  Catholic  bishops  and  the  clergy 
strenuously  opposed  these  secret  societies.'  The  bishop 
of  Cloyne  issued  a  pastoral  condemning  them  ;  the  cel- 
ebrated father  Arthur  O'Leary  wrote  against  them  ;  the 
bishop  of  Ossory  excommunicated  them.  In  the  dio- 
ceses of  Kildare  and  Kilkenny,  and  throughout  Munster, 
the  very  clergy  were  themselves  in  fear  of  their  ven- 
geance, and  were  frequently  removed  by  their  bishops 
from  one  neighborhood  to  another. 

In  the  north,  the  "  Hearts  of  Steel  "  were  formed  into 
a  society  amongst  lord  Downshire's  tenants,  and  the 
"  Peep  o'Day  Boys  "  were  the  precursors  of  the  Orange 
association.  The  disturbances  of  the  Whiteboys  ceased 
in  Munster  before  1770,  but  reappeared  in  the  county 
Kildare  in  1175,  and  in  Kilkenny  and  the  Queen's  Coun- 
ty in  1775  and  the  following  years.  The  Munster  and 
Kilkenny  insurgents  of  1785  and  the  following  years 
assumed  the  name  of  Rightboys,  but  their  grievances 
and  their  proceedings  were  the  same  as  those  of  the 
Whiteboys,  with  the  exception  of  the  manifestation  of 
an  additional  animus  against  the  clergy  on  the  subject 
of  tithes. 


386 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


To  so  great  an  extent  were  the  Protestant  clergy  of 
Munster  the  object  of  attack  at  this  period,  that  many 
of  them  fled  from  their  parishes,  and  took  refuge  in  the 
large  towns.  In  1786  a  bill  was  introduced  to  "  protect 
the  persons,  houses,  and  properties  of  rectors,  vicars, 
and  curates,"  actually  resident  within  their  parishes. 
The  reason  of  the  continuance  of  these  insurrections  was 
the  extreme  difficulty  of  convicting  offenders.  When  an 
informer  could  be  found,  he  was  generally  a  man  of  the 
worst  character,  who  would  recklessly  swear  any  life 
away.  As  a  general  rule,  however,  those  who  could 
have  given  honest  and  true  evidence  would  not  do  so. 
The  truth  was,  that  they  sympathized  with  the  men  who 
committed  these  outrages,  not  because  they  had  any 
love  for  crime,  but  because  they  believed  them  justified 
in  their  rash  efforts  to  obtain  redress,  and  hence  could 
not  look  on  them  as  common  murderers  or  assassins. 

In  1771  a  grace  was  granted  to  the  Catholics,  by  which 
they  were  allowed  to  take  a  lease  of  fifty  acres  of  bog, 
and  half  an  acre  of  arable  land  for  a  house ;  but  this 
holding  was  not  to  be  within  a  mile  of  any  town.  In 
1773  an  attempt  was  made  to  tax  absentees  ;  but  as  they 
were  the  principal  land-owners,  they  easily  defeated 
the  measure.  A  work  was  published  in  1769,  contain- 
ing a  list  of  the  absentees,  which  is  in  itself  sufficient  to 
account  for  any  amount  of  misery  and  disaffection  in 
Ireland.  There  can  be  no  doubt  of  the  correctness  of 
the  statement,  because  the  names  of  the  individuals  and 
the  amount  of  their  property  is  given  in  full.  Property 
to  the  amount  of  73,375Z.  belonged  to  persons  who  never 
visited  Ireland.  Pensions  to  the  amount  of  371,9002. 
were  paid  to  persons  who  lived  out  of  Ireland.  Prop- 
erty to  the  amount  of  117,800Z.  was  possessed  by  per- 
sons who  visited  Ireland  occasionally,  but  lived  abroad. 
Incomes  to  the  amount  of  T2,200Z.  were  possessed  by 
officials  and  bishops,  who  generally  lived  out  of  Ireland. 
The  state  of  trade  is  also  treated  in  the  same  work,  in 
which  the  injustice  the  country  had  suffered  is  fully  and 
clearly  explained. 

The  American  war  commenced  in  1175,  and  the  Eng- 
lish Parliament  at  once  resolved  to  relieve  Ireland  of 
some  of  her  commercial  disabilities.  Some  trifling  con- 
cessions were  granted,  just  enough  to  make  the  Irish 


THE  VOLUNTEERS. 


387 


believe  that  they  need  not  expect  justice  except  under 
the  compulsion  of  fear,  and  not  enough  to  benefit  the 
country.  Irish  soldiers  were  now  asked  for  and  granted  ; 
but  exportation  of  Irish  commodities  to  America  was 
forbidden,  and  in  consequence  the  country  was  reduced 
to  a  state  of  fearful  distress.  The  Irish  debt  rose  to 
994,890/.,  but  the  pension  list  was  still  continued  and 
paid  to  absentees.  When  the  independence  of  the  Amer- 
ican States  was  acknowledged  by  France,  a  bill  for  the 
partial  relief  of  the  Catholics  passed  unanimously  through 
the  English  Parliament.  Catholics  were  now  allowed  a 
few  of  the  rights  of  citizens.  They  were  permitted  to 
take  and  dispose  of  leases,  and  priests  and  schoolmasters 
were  no  longer  liable  to  prosecution. 

Grattan  had  entered  Parliament  in  the  year  1775.  In 
1779  he  addressed  the  house  on  the  subject  of  a  free 
trade  for  Ireland  ;  and  on  April  19,  1780,  he  made  his 
famous  demand  for  Irish  independence.  His  address, 
his  subject,  and  his  eloquence  were  irresistible.  "  I 
wish  for  nothing/'  he  exclaimed,  "but  to  breathe  in  this 
our  land,  in  common  with  my  fellow-subjects,  the  air  of 
liberty.  I  have  no  ambition,  unless  it  be  the  ambition 
to  break  your  chain,  and  to  contemplate  your  glory.  I 
never  will  be  satisfied,  as  long  as  the  meanest  cottager 
in  Ireland  has  a  link  of  the  British  chain  clinging  to  his 
rags  ;  he  may  be  naked,  but  he  shall  not  be  in  irons. 
And  I  do  see  the  time  is  at  hand,  the  spirit  is  gone  forth, 
the  declaration  is  planted  ;  and  though  great  men  should 
apostatize,  yet  the  cause  will  live  ;  and  though  the  pub- 
lic speaker  should  die,  yet  the  immortal  fire  shall  outlast 
the  organ  which  conveyed  it ;  and  the  breath  of  liberty, 
like  the  word  of  the  holy  man,  will  not  die  with  the 
prophet,  but  survive  him." 

The  volunteer  corps,  which  had  been  formed  in  Bel- 
fast in  1779,  when  the  coast  was  threatened  by  priva- 
teers, had  now  risen  to  be  a  body  of  national  importance. 
They  were  reviewed  in  public,  and  complimented  by 
Parliament.  But  they  were  patriots  in  the  truest  sense 
of  the  word,  and  of  necessity  were  formidable  and  dan- 
gerous to  those  who  were  unwilling  to  comply  with  their 
demands,  which  if,  they  were  not  speedily  decided,  they 
might  yet  have  power  to  enforce.  On  December  28, 
1781,  a  few  of  the  leading  members  of  the  Ulster  regi- 


388 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


ments  met  at  Charlemont,  and  convened  a  meeting  of 
delegates  from  all  the  volunteer  associations,  at  Dun- 
gannon,  on  February  15,  1782.  The  delegates  assem- 
bled on  the  appointed  day,  and  government  dared  not 
prevent  or  interrupt  their  proceedings.  Colonel  Wil- 
liam Irvine  presided,  and  .twenty -one  resolutions  were 
adopted,  demanding  civil  rights  and  the  removal  of 
commercial  restraints.  One  resolution  expresses  their 
pleasure,  as  Irishmen,  as  Christians,  and  as  Protestants, 
at  the  relaxation  of  the  penal  laws.  This  resolution 
was  suggested  by  Mr.  Grattan  to  Mr.  Dobbs,  as  he  was 
leaving  Dublin  to  join  the  assembly.  It  was  passed 
with  only  two  dissentient  votes. 

The  effect  of  this  combined,  powerful,  yet  determined 
agitation,  was  decisive.    On  the  22nd  of  February,  Mr. 
Grattan  brought  forward  his  celebrated  motion  for  Irish 
independence,  and  it  was  carried  on  the  16th  of  April, 
just  two  years  after  he  had  first  begun  to  agitate  on  the 
subject.    When  the  bill  had  passed  he  rose  once  more 
in  the  house,  and  exclaimed  :  u  Ireland  is  now  a  nation  ! 
In  that  new  character  I  hail  her,  and  bowing  to  her 
august  presence,  I  say,  Esto  Perpetua."    A  period  of 
unexampled  prosperity  followed.    The  very  effects  of  a 
reaction  from  conditions  under  which  commerce  was 
purposely  restricted  and  trade  paralyzed  by  law,  to  one 
of  comparative  freedom,  could  not  fail  to  produce  such 
an  effect.    If  the  Parliament  had  been  reformed  when  it 
was  freed,  it  is  probable  that  Ireland  at  this  moment 
would  be  the  most  prosperous  of  nations.    But  the  Par- 
liament was  not  reformed.    The  prosperity  which  fol- 
lowed was  rather  the  effect  of  reaction  than  of  any  real 
settlement  of  the  Irish  question.    The  land  laws  were 
left  untouched,  an  alien  church  was  allowed  to  continue 
its  unjust  exactions  ;  and  though  Ireland  was  delivered, 
her  chains  were  not  all  broken  ;  and  those  which  were, 
still  hung  loosely  round  her,  ready  for  the  hand  of 
traitor  or  foe.    Though  nominally  freed  from  English 
control,  the  Irish  Parliament  was  not  less  enslaved  by 
corrupt  influence.    Perhaps  there  had  never  been  a 
period  in  the  history  of  England  when  bribery  was  more 
freely  used,  when  corruption  was  more  predominant. 
A  considerable  number  of  the  peers  in  the  Irish  house 
were  English  by  interest  and  by  education.    A  majority 


IRISH  REVENUE  FOR  1783. 


389 


ot  members  of  the  lower  house  were  their  creatures.  A 
man  who  desired  a  place  in  Parliament  would  conform 
to  the  opinions  of  his  patron  :  the  patron  was  willing  to 
receive  a  "  compensation  "  for  making  his  opinions,  if 
he  had  any,  coincide  with  those  of  the  government. 
Many  of  the  members  were  anxious  for  preferment  for 
themselves  or  their  friends  ;  the  price  of  preferment  was  a 
vote  for  ministers.  The  solemn  fact  of  individual  respon- 
sibility for  each  individual  act  had  yet  to  be  understood. 

One  of  the  first  acts  of  the  Irish  independent  Parlia- 
ment was  to  order  the  appointment  of  a  committee  to 
inquire  into  the  state  of  the  manufactures  of  the  king- 
dom, and  to  ascertain  what  might  be  necessary  for  their 
improvement.  The  hearts  of  the  poor,  always  praying 
for  employment,  which  had  been  so  long  and  so  cruelly 
withheld  from  them,  bounded  with  joy.  Petitions  poured 
in  on  every  side.  David  Bosquet  had  erected  mills  in 
Dublin  for  the  manufacture  of  metals ;  he  prayed  for 
help.  John  and  Henry  Allen  had  woollen  manufactories 
in  the  county  Dublin  ;  they  prayed  for  help.  Thomas 
Reilly,  iron  merchant,  of  the  town  of  Wicklow,  wished 
to  introduce  improvements  in  iron  works.  J ames  Smith, 
an  Englishman,  had  cotton  manufactories  at  Balbriggan  ; 
he  wished  to  extend  them.  Anthony  Dawson,  of  Dun- 
drum,  near  Dublin,  had  water  mills  for  making  tools  for 
all  kinds  of  artisans ;  this,  above  all,  should  be  encour- 
aged, now  that  there  was  some  chance  of  men  having 
some  use  for  tools.  Then  there  were  requests  for  aid 
to  establish  carpet  manufactories,  linen  manufactories, 
glass  manufactories,  &c;  and  Robert  Burke,  Esq.,  of  the 
county  Kiidare,  prayed  for  the  loan  of  40,000/.  for  seven 
years,  that  he  might  establish  manufactories  at  Prosper- 
ous. These  few  samples  of  petitions,  taken  at  random 
from  many  others,  will  enable  the  reader  to  form  some 
idea  of  the  state  of  depression  in  which  Ireland  was  kept 
by  the  English  government  —  of  the  eagerness  of  the 
Irish  to  work,  if  they  were  only  permitted  to  do  so. 

The  Irish  revenue  for  the  year  1783  was,  in  round 
numbers  90O,00OZ.,  which  amounted  to  a  tax  of  about 
6s.  per  annum  on  each  person.  It  was  distributed  thus  : 

For  the  interest  of  the  national  debt  £120,000 

Army  and  ordnance,  civil  government  and  other  funds. . .  450,000 
Pensions,  grants,  bounties,  and  aids  to  manufacturers. . ..  250,000 
Surplus  unappropriated   80,000 

Total  £900,000 


390 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


More  than  200, 000Z.  was  spent  during  that  year  in 
erecting  forts,  batteries,  and  other  public  buildings, 
which  gave  employment  to  the  people  in  certain  dis- 
tricts. Large  sums  were  granted  to  the  poor  of  Cork 
and  Dublin  for  coals  ;  and  large  grants  were  made  to 
encourage  manufactures.  We  have  observed,  however, 
in  carefully  examining  these  grants,  which  are  by  far  too 
numerous  for  insertion,  that  they  were  principally,  and, 
indeed,  we  might  say  exclusively,  made  to  persons  in 
Dublin  and  its  neighborhood,  in  the  north  of  Ireland, 
and  in  the  cities  of  Cork  and  Limerick.  Hence,  the  pros- 
perity of  Ireland  was  only  partial,  and  was  confined  ex- 
clusively, though,  probably  not  intentionally,  to  certain 
districts.  This  will  explain  why  the  misery  and  starva- 
tion of  the  poor,  in  the  less  favored  parts  of  the  country, 
were  a  principal  cause  of  the  fearful  insurrection  which 
occurred  within  a  few  short  years. 

Lord  Clare  proclaimed,  in  the  house  of  Parliament, 
that  "  no  nation  on  the  habitable  globe  had  advanced  in 
cultivation,  commerce,  and  manufacture,  with  the  same 
rapidity  as  Ireland,  from  1782  to  1800. "  The  population 
increased fr om  three  millions  to  Jive.  There  were  five 
thousand  carpenters  fully  employed  in  Dublin  ;  there 
were  fifteen  thousand  silk-weavers.  Nor  should  we  be 
surprised  at  this ;  for  Dublin  possesses  at  the  present 
day  substantial  remains  of  her  former  prosperity,  which 
are  even  now  the  admiration  of  Europe.  All  her  great 
public  buildings  were  erected  at  this  period.  The  cus- 
tom-house was  commenced  and  completed  in  ten  years, 
at  a  cost  of  a  quarter  of  a  million  sterling.  The  rotundo 
was  commenced  in  1784.  The  law  courts,  the  most 
elegant  and  extensive  in  the  British  empire,  were  begun 
in  1786.  In  1788  there  were  fourteen  thousand  three 
hundred  and  twenty-seven  dwelling-houses  in  Dublin, 
and  one  hundred  and  ten  thousand  inhabitants.  Two 
hundred  and  twenty  peers  and  three  hundred  commoners 
had  separate  residences.  Dublin  was  fashionable,  and 
Dublin  prospered. 

But  corruption  soon  did  its  fatal  work.  It  sanctioned, 
nay,  it  compelled,  the  persecution  of  the  majority  of  the 
nation  for  their  religious  creed  ;  and  with  this  persecu- 
tion the  last  flame  of  national  prosperity  expired,  and 
the  persecutors  and  the  persecuted  shared  alike  in  the 
common  ruin.    In  1792  lord  Edward  Fitzgerald  de- 


AGITATION    FOR  PARLIAMENTARY  REFORM.  391 

nounced  the  conduct  of  the  house  in  these  ever-memo- 
rable words  :  "I  do  think,  sir,  that  the  lord-lieutenant 
and  the  majority  of  this  house  are  the  worst  subjects 
the  king  has  ;  "  and  when  a  storm  arose,  the  more  vio- 
lent from  consciousness  that  his  words  were  but  too  true  ; 
for  all  retractation  he  would  only  say  :  "I  am  accused 
of  having  said  that  I  think  the  lord  lieutenant  and  the 
majority  of  this  house  are  the  worst  subjects  the  king 
has.    I  said  so  ;  'tis  true  ;  and  I  am  sorry  for  it." 

On  May  27,  1782,  when  the  Irish  houses  met,  after  an 
adjournment  of  three  weeks,  the  duke  of  Portland  an- 
nounced the  unconditional  concessions  which  had  been 
made  to  Ireland  by  the  English  Parliament.  Mr.  Grat- 
tan  interpreted  the  concessions  in  the  fullest  sense,  and 
moved  an  address,  "  breathing  the  generous  sentiments 
of  his  noble  and  confiding  nature."  Mr.  Flood  and  a 
few  other  members  took  a  different  and  more  cautious 
view  of  the  case.  They  wished  for  something  more  than 
a  simple  repeal  of  the  act  of  6  George  L,  and  they  de- 
manded an  express  declaration  that  England  would  not 
interfere  with  Irish  affairs.  But  Mr.  Grattan's  address 
was  carried  by  .a  division  of  two  hundred  and  eleven  to 
two  ;  and  the  house  to  show  its  gratitude,  voted  that 
twenty  thousand  Irish  seamen  should  be  raised  for  the 
British  navy,  at  a  cost  of  100,0007.,  and  that  50,0007. 
should  be  given  to  purchase  an  estate  and  build  a  house 
for  Mr.  Grattan,  whose  eloquence  had  contributed  so 
powerfully  to  obtain  what  they  hoped  would  prove  jus- 
tice to  Ireland. 

Parliament  was  dissolved  on  July  15,  1783,  and  sum- 
moned to  meet  in  October.  The  volunteers  now  began 
to  agitate  on  the  important  question  of  parliamentary 
reform,  which,  indeed,  was  necessary  ;  for  there  were  few 
members  who  really  represented  the  nation.  The  close 
boroughs  were  bought  and  sold  openly  and  shamelessly, 
and  many  members  who  were  returned  for  counties  were 
not  proof  against  place  or  bribes.  But  the  volunteers 
had  committed  the  fatal  mistake  of  not  obtaining  the 
exercise  of  the  elective  franchise  for  their  Catholic  fel- 
low-subjects :  hence  the  Irish  Parliament  obtained  only 
a  nominal  freedom,  as  its  acts  were  entirely  in  the  hands 
of  the  government  through  the  venality  of  the  members. 
On  the  10th  of  November,  one  hundred  and  sixtv  dele- 


392 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


gates  assembled  at  the  Royal  Exchange,  Dublin.  They 
were  headed  by  lord  Charlemont,  and  marched  in  pro- 
cession to  the  rotundo.  The  earl  of  Bristol,  an  eccen- 
tric, but  kind  and  warm-hearted  man,  who  was  also  the 
Protestant  bishop  of  Derry,  took  a  leading  part  in  the 
deliberations.  Sir  Boyle  Roche,  an  equally  eccentric 
.gentleman,  took  a  message  from  lord  Kenmare  to  the 
meeting,  assuring  them  that  the  Catholics  were  satisfied 
with  what  had  been  granted  to  them.  lie  had  acted  under 
a  misapprehension  ;  and  the  bishop  of  Derry,  who  was,  in 
fact,  the  only  liberal  member  of  the  corps,  informed  the 
delegates  that  the  Catholics  had  held  a  meeting,  with  Sir 
Patrick  Bellew  in  the  chair,  in  which  they  repudiated  this 
assertion.  Several  plans  of  reform  were  now  proposed  ; 
and  a  bill  was  introduced  into  the  house  by  Mr.  Flood,  on 
the  19th  of  November,  and  warmly  opposed  by  Mr.  Yel- 
verton,  who  was  now  attorney -general,  and  had  formerly 
been  a  volunteer.  A  stormy  scene  ensued,  but  bribery 
and  corruption  prevailed.  The  fate  of  the  volunteers 
was  sealed.  Through  motives  of  prudence  or  of  policy, 
lord  Charlemont  adjourned  the  convention  sine  die ;  and 
the  flame,  which  had  shot  up  with  sudden  brilliancy, 
died  out  even  more  rapidly  than  it  had  been  kindled. 
The  volunteers  were  now  deserted  by  their  leaders,  and 
assumed  the  infinitely  dangerous  form  of  a  democratic 
movement.  Such  a  movement  can  rarely  succeed,  an^ 
seldom  ends  without  inflicting  worse  injuries  on  the 
nation  than  those  which  it  has  sought  to  avert. 

The  delegates  were  again  convened  in  Dublin  by 
Flood  and  Napper  Tandy.  They  met  in  October,  1784, 
and  their  discussions  were  carried  on  in  secret.  Every- 
where the  men  began  to  arm  themselves,  and  to  train 
others  to  military  exercises.  But  the  government  had 
gained  a  victory  over  them  in  the  withdrawal  of  their 
leaders,  and  the  attorney -general  attempted  to  intimi- 
date them  still  further  by  a  prosecution.  In  1185  a  bill 
was  introduced  for  removing  some  of  the  commercial 
restraints  of  the  Irish  nation ;  it  passed  the  Irish  house, 
but,  to.  satisfy  popular  clamors  in  England,  it  was  re- 
turned with  such  additions  as  effectually  marred  its  use- 
fulness. Grattan  now  saw  how  grievously  he  had  been 
mistaken  in  his  estimate  of  the  results  of  all  that  was 
promised  in  1782,  and  he  denounced  the  measure  with 


ORIGIN  OF  THE  UNITED  IRISHMEN. 


393 


more  than  ordinary  eloquence.  It  was  rejected,  by  a 
small  majority,  after  a  debate  which  lasted  till  eight 
o'clock  in  the  morning;  and  the  nationality  of  the  small 
majority  purchased  the  undying  hatred  of  the  English 
minister,  William  Pitt.  The  people  were  still  suffering 
from  the  cruel  exactions  of  landlords  and  tithe-proctors. 
Their  poverty  and  misery  were  treated  with  contempt 
and  indifference,  and  they  were  driven  to  open  acts  of 
violence,  which  could  not  be  repressed,  either  by  the 
fear  of  the  consequences,  or  the  earnest  exhortations  of 
the  Catholic  bishops  and  clergy. 

Pitt  was  again  thwarted  by  the  Irish  Parliament  on 
the  regency  question,  when  the  insanity  of  George  III. 
required  the  appointment  of  his  heir  as  governor  of  Eng- 
land. The  marquis  of  Buckingham,  who  was  then  lord 
lieutenant,  refused  to  forward  their  address  ;  but  the 
members  sent  a  deputation  of  their  own.  This  nobleman 
was  open  and  shameless  in  his  acts  of  bribery,  and  added 
13,000Z.  a  year  to  the  pension  list,  already  so  fatally 
oppressive  to  the  country.  In  1190  he  was  succeeded 
by  the  earl  of  Westmoreland,  and  various  clubs  were 
formed  ;  but  the  Catholics  were  still  excluded  from  them 
all.  Still  the  Catholics  were  an  immense  majority  nation- 
ally; the  French  revolution  had  manifested  what  the 
people  could  do  ;  and  the  rulers  of  the  land,  with  such 
terrible  examples  before  their  eyes,  could  not  for  their 
own  sakes  afford  to  ignore  Catholic  interests  altogether. 
But  the  very  cause  which  gave  hope,  was  itself  the 
means  of  taking  hope  away.  The  action  of  the  Irish 
Catholics  was  paralyzed  through  fear  of  the  demonlike 
cruelties  which  even  a  successful  revolution  might  in- 
duce ;  and  the  general  fear  which  the  aristocratic  party 
had  of  giving  freedom  to  the  uneducated  classes,  influ- 
enced them  to  a  fatal  silence.  Again  the  middle  classes 
were  left  without  leaders,  who  might  have  tempered  a 
praiseworthy  nationality  with  a  not  less  praiseworthy 
prudence,  and  which  might  have  saved  both  the  nation 
and  some  of  its  best  and  bravest  sons  from  fearful  suf- 
fering. 

A  Catholic  meeting  was  held  in  Dublin,  on  February 
11,  1791,  and  a  resolution  was  passed  to  apply  to  Par- 
liament for  relief  from  their  disabilities.  This  was  in 
truth  the  origin  of  the  United  Irishmen.    For  the  first 


394 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


time  Catholics  and  Protestants  agreed  cordially,  and 
worked  together  harmoniously.  The  leading  men  on 
the  Catholic  committee  were  Keogh,  M'Cormic,  Sweet- 
man,  Byrne,  and  Branghall ;  the  Protestant  leaders  were 
Theobald  Wolfe  Tone,  and  the  Hon.  Simon  Butler.  Tone 
visited  Belfast  in  October,  1791,  and  formed  the  first 
club  of  the  Society  of  United  Irishmen.  He  was  joined 
there  by  Neilson,  Simms,  Russell,  and  many  others.  A 
club  was  then  formed  in  Dublin,  of  which  Napper  Tandy 
became  a  leading  member.  The  fundamental  resolutions 
of  the  society  were  admirable.  They  stated  :  "  1.  That 
the  weight  of  English  influence  in  the  government  of 
this  country  is  so  great  as  to  require  a  cordial  union 
among  all  the  people  of  Ireland,  to  maintain  that  balance 
which  is  essential  to  the  preservation  of  our  liberties  and 
the  extension  of  our  commerce.  2.  That  the  sole  con- 
stitutional mode  by  which  this  influence  can  be  opposed, 
is  by  a  complete  and  radical  reform  of  the  representation 
of  the  people  in  Parliament.  3.  That  no  reform  is  just 
which  does  not  include  every  Irishman  of  every  religious 
persuasion. " 

Tone  had  already  obtained  considerable  influence  by 
his  political  pamphlets,  which  had  obtained  an  immense 
circulation.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  he  was  tinctured 
with  republican  sentiments ;  but  it  was  impossible  for 
an  Irish  Protestant,  who  had  any  real  sympathy  with  his 
country,  to  feel  otherwise  ;  it  had  endured  nothing  but 
misery  from  the  monarchical  form  of  government.  The 
Catholics,  probably,  were  only  prevented  from  adopting 
similar  opinions  by  their  inherent  belief  in  the  divine 
right  of  kings.    In  1791  the  fears  of  those  who  thought 
the  movement  had  a  democratic  tendency,  were  con- 
firmed by  the  celebration  of  the  anniversary  of  the 
French  revolution  in  Belfast,  July,  1791  ;  and  in  conse- 
quence of  this,  sixty-four  Catholics  of  the  upper  classes 
presented  a  loyal  address  to  the  throne.    The  Catholic 
delegates  met  in  Dublin  in  December,  1792,  and  prepared 
a  petition  to  the  king,  representing  their  grievances.  It 
was  signed  by  Dr.  Troy,  the  Catholic  archbishop  of  Dub- 
lin, and  Dr.  Moylan,  on  behalf  of  the  clergy.  Amongst 
the  laity  present  were  lords  Kenmare,  Fingall,  Trimbles- 
ton,  Gormanstown,  and  French.    Five  delegates  were 
appointed  to  present  the  petition,  and  they  were  pro- 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  UNITED  IRISHMEN. 


395 


vided  with  a  very  large  sum  of  money,  which  induced 
those  in  power  to  obtain  them  an  audience.  They  were 
introduced  to  George  III.  by  Edmund  Burke.  His  maj- 
esty sent  a  message  to  the  Irish  Parliament,  requesting 
them  to  remove  some  of  the  disabilities  ;  but  the  Par- 
liament treated  the  message  with  contempt,  and  lord 
chancellor  FitzGibbon  brought  in  a  bill  to  prevent  any 
bodies  from  meeting  by  delegation  for  the  future. 

In  1793  a  relief  bill  was  passed,  in  consequence  of  the 
war  with  France  ;  a  militia  bill,  and  the  gunpowder  and 
convention  bills,  were  also  passed,  the  latter  being  an 
attempt  to  suppress  the  volunteers  and  the  United  Irish- 
men. A  meeting  of  the  latter  was  held  in  February, 
1193,  and  the  chairman  and  secretary  were  brought  be- 
fore the  house  of  lords,  and  sentenced  to  six  months' 
imprisonment,  and  a  fine  of  bOOl.  each.  The  following 
year,  January,  1794,  Mr.  Eowan  was  prosecuted  for  an 
address  to  the  volunteers,  made  two  years  before.  Even 
Currants  eloquence,  and  the  fact  that  the  principal  wit- 
ness was  perjured,  failed  to  obtain  his  acquittal.  He 
was  sentenced  to  two  years7  imprisonment,  and  a  fine  of 
500Z.  His  conviction  served  only  to  increase  the  pop- 
ular excitement,  as  he  was  considered  a  martyr  to  his 
patriotism.  An  address  was  presented  to  him  in  New- 
gate by  the  United  Irishmen,  but  he  escaped  on  May  1, 
and  got  safely  to  America,  though  l,OO0Z.  was  offered  for 
his  apprehension. 

The  English  minister  now  appears  to  have  tried  to 
drive  the  people  into  a  rebellion,  which  could  be  crushed 
at  once  by  the  sword,  and  would  spare  the  necessity  of 
making  concessions  ;  or  to  entangle  the  leaders  in  some 
act  of  overt  treason,  and  quash  the  movement  by  depriv- 
ing it  of  its  heads.  An  opportunity  for  the  latter  ma- 
noeuvre now  presented  itself.  William  Jackson,  a  Prot- 
estant clergyman,  who  had  lived  many  years  in  France, 
came  to  the  country  for  the  purpose  of  opening  commu- 
nications between  the  French  government  and  the  United 
Irishmen.  Jackson  confided  his  secret  to  his  solicitor, 
a  man  named  Cockayne.  The  solicitor  informed  Mr. 
Pitt,  and  by  his  desire  continued  to  watch  his  victim, 
and  trade  on  his  open-hearted  candor,  until  he  had  led 
him  to  his  doom.  The  end  of  the  unfortunate  clergy- 
man was  very  miserable.    He  took  poison  when  brought 


396 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


up  for  judgment,  and  died  in  the  dock.  His  object  in 
committing  this  crime  was  to  save  his  property  for  his 
wife  and  children,  as  it  would  have  been  confiscated  had 
his  sentence  been  pronounced. 

The  viceroyalty  of  earl  Fitz  William  once  more  gave 
the  Irish  nation  some  hope  that  England  would  grant 
them  justice.  But  he  was  soon  recalled;  Lord  Camden 
was  sent  in  his  stead  ;  and  the  country  was  given  up  to 
the  Bereslord  faction,  who  were  quite  willing  to  coop- 
erate in  Mr.  Pitt'g  plan  of  setting  Protestants  and  Cath- 
olics against  each  other,  of  exciting  open  rebellion,  and 
of  profiting  by  the  miseries  of  the  nation  to  forge  new 
chains  for  it,  by  its  parliamentary  union  with  England. 
Everything  was  done  now  that  could  be  done  to  excite 
the  Catholics  to  rebellion.  The  Orangemen,  if  their  own 
statement  on  oath1  is  to  be  trusted,  were  actually  bribed 
to  persecute  the  Catholics.  Sermons*  were  preached  by 
Protestant  ministers  to  excite  their  feelings ;  and  when 
the  Catholics  resisted,  or  offered  reprisals,  they  were  pun- 
ished with  the  utmost  severity,  while  their  persecutors 
always  escaped.  Lord  Carhampton,  a  grandson  of  the 
worthless  Henry  Luttrell,  who  had  betrayed  the  Irish 
at  the  siege  of  Limerick,  commanded  the  army,  and  his 
cruelty  is  beyond  description.  An  insurrection  act  was 
passed  in  1796  ;  magistrates  were  allowed  to  proclaim 
counties;  suspected  persons  were  to  be  banished  the 
country  or  pressed  into  the  fleet,  without  the  shadow 
of  trial ;  and  acts  of  indemnity  were  passed,  to  shield 
the  magistrates  and  the  military  from  the  consequences 
of  any  unlawful  cruelties  which  fanaticism  or  barbarity 
might  induce  them  to  commit. 

Grattan  appealed  boldly  and  loudly  against  these 

1  We  give  authority  for  these  details.  In  the  spring  of  1796  three 
Orangemen  swore  before  a  magistrate  of  Down  and  Armagh  that 
the  Orangemen  frequently  met  in  committees,  amongst  whom  were 
some  members  of  Parliament,  who  gave  them  money,  and  promised 
that  they  should  not  suffer  for  any  act  they  might  commit,  and  pledged 
themselves  that  they  should  be  provided  for  by  government.  The 
magistrate  informed  the  secretary  of  state,  and  asked  how  he  should 
act;  but  he  never  received  any  answer.  For  further  details  on  this 
head,  see  Plowden;s  History  of  the  Insurrection. 

2  On  July  1, 1795,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Monsell,  a  Protestant  clergyman  of 
Portadown,  invited  his  flock  to  celebrate  the  anniversarv  of  the  bat- 
tle of  the  Boyne  by  attending  church,  and  preached  such  a  sermon 
against  the  Papists  that  his  congregation  fell  on  every  Catholic  they 
met  going  home,  beat  them  cruelly,  and  finished  the  day  by  murder 
ing  two  farmer's  sons,  who  were  quietly  at  work  in  a  bog.— Mooney's 
History  of  Ireland, 


ORGANIZATION"  OF  THE  UNITED  IRISHMEN.  391 

atrocities.  "  These  insurgents,"  he  said,  "call  them- 
selves Protestant  Boys  —  that  is,  a  banditti  of  murder- 
ers, committing  massacre  in  the  name  of  God,  and  exer- 
cising despotic  power  in  the  name  of  liberty."  The 
published  declaration  of  lord  Gosford  and  of  thirty  mag- 
istrates, who  attempted  to  obtain  some  justice  for  the 
unfortunate  subjects  of  these  wrongs,  is  scarcely  less 
emphatic.  It  is  dated  December  28,  1795:  "It  is  no 
secret  that  a  persecution,  accompanied  with  all  the  cir- 
cumstances of  ferocious  cruelty  which  have  in  all  ages 
distinguished  this  calamity,  is  now  raging  in  this  coun- 
try ;  neither  age  nor  sex,  nor  even  acknowledged  inno- 
cence, is  sufficient  to  excite  mercy  or  afford  protection. 
The  only  crime  which  the  unfortunate  objects  of  this 
persecution  are  charged  with,  is  a  crime  of  easy  proof 
indeed  ;  it  is  simply  a  profession  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
faith.  A  lawless  banditti  have  constituted  themselves 
judges  of  this  species  of  delinquency,  and  the  sentence 
they  pronounce  is  equally  concise  and  terrible  ;  it  is 
nothing  less  than  a  confiscation  of  all  property  and 
immediate  banishment  —  a  prescription  that  has  been 
carried  into  effect,  and  exceeds,  in  the  number  of  those  it 
consigns  to  ruin  and  misery,  every  example  that  ancient 
or  modern  history  can  supply.  These  horrors  are  now 
acting  with  impunity.  The  spirit  of  justice  has  disap- 
peared from  the  country ;  and  the  supineness  of  the 
magistracy  of  Armagh  has  become  a  common  topic  of 
conversation  in  every  corner  of  the  kingdom." 

One  would  have  supposed  that  an  official  declaration 
from  such  an  authority,  signed  by  the  governor  of  Ar- 
magh and  thirty  magistrates,  would  have  produced  some 
effect  on  the  government  of  the  day  ;  but  the  sequel 
proved  that  such  honorable  exposure  was  as  ineffective 
as  the  rejected  petition  of  millions  of  Catholics.  The 
formation  of  the  yeomanry  corps  filled  up  the  cup  of  bit- 
terness. The  United  Irishmen,  seeing  no  hope  of  con- 
stitutional redress,  formed  themselves  into  a  military 
organization.  But,  though  the  utmost  precautions  were 
used  to  conceal  the  names  of  members  and  the  plans  of 
the  association,  their  movements  were  well  known  to 
government  from  an  early  period.  Tone,  in  the  mean- 
time, came  to  France  from  America,  and  induced  Carnot 
to  send  an  expedition  to  Ireland,  under  the  command  of 


398 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


general  Hoche.  It  ended  disastrously.  A  few  vessels 
cruised  for  a  week  in  the  harbor  of  Bantry  Bay  ;  but,  as 
the  remainder  of  the  fleet,  which  was  separated  by  a  fog", 
didnotarrive,  Grouchy,  the  second  in  command,  returned 
to  France. 

Meanwhile,  the  society  of  United  Irishmen  spread 
rapidly,  and  especially  in  those  places  where  the  Orange- 
men exercised  their  cruelties.  Lord  Edward  FitzGer- 
ald  now  joined  the  movement ;  and  even  those  who 
cannot  commend  the  cause,  are  obliged  to  admire  the 
perfection  of  his  devoted  self-sacrifice  to  what  he  be- 
lieved to  be  the  interests  of  his  country.  His  leader- 
ship seemed  all  that  was  needed  to  secure  success.  His 
gay  and  frank  manner  made  him  popular ;  his  military 
bearing  demanded  respect ;  his  superior  attainments 
gave  him  power  to  command ;  his  generous  disinterest- 
edness was  patent  to  all.  But  already  a  paid  system  of 
espionage  had  been  established  by  government.  A  set 
of  miscreants  were  found  who  could  lure  their  victims 
to  their  doom  —  who  could  eat  and  drink,  and  talk  and 
live  with  them  as  their  bosom  friends,  and  then  sign 
their  death-warrant  with  the  kiss  of  Judas.  There  was 
a  regular  gang  of  informers  of  a  low  class,  like  the  infa- 
mous Jemmy  O'Brien,  who  were  under  the  control  of 
the  town -majors,  Sirr  and  Swan.  But  there  were  gen- 
tlemen informers  also,  who,  in  many  cases,  were  never 
so.  much  as  suspected  by  their  dupes.  MacNally,  the 
advocate  of  the  United  Irishmen,  and  Mr.  Graham,  their 
solicitor,  were  both  of  that  class.  Thomas  Reynolds, 
of  Killeen  castle,  entered  their  body  on  purpose  to  betray 
them.  Captain  Armstrong  did  the  same.  John  Hughes, 
a  Belfast  bookseller,  had  himself  arrested  several  times 
to  allay  their  suspicions.  John  Edward  Nevill  was 
equally  base  and  treacherous.  However  necessary  it 
may  be  for  the  ends  of  government  to  employ  spies  and 
informers,  there  is  no  necessity  for  men  to  commit  crimes 
of  the  basest  treachery.  Such  men  and  such  crimes  will 
ever  be  handed  down  to  posterity  with  the  reprobation 
they  deserve. 

Attempts  were  now  made  to  get  assistance  from 
France.  Mr.  O'Connor  and  lord  Edward  FitzGerald  pro- 
ceeded thither  for  that  purpose  ;  but  their  mission  was 
not  productive  of  any  great  result.    The  people  were 


TRIAI   OF  MR.  ORR. 


399 


goaded  to  madness  by  the  cruelties  which  were  commit- 
ted on  them  every  day ;  and  it  was  in  vain  that  persons 
above  all  suspicion  of  countenancing  either  rebels  or 
Papists  protested  against  these  enormities  in  the  name 
of  common  humanity.  In  1797  a  part  of  Ulster  was 
proclaimed  by  general  Lalor,  and  Lord  Moira  described 
thus,  in  the  English  house  of  lords,  the  sufferings  of  the 
unhappy  people :  "  When  a  man  was  taken  up  on  sus- 
picion, he  was  put  to  the  torture  ;  nay,  if  he  were  merely 
accused  of  concealing  the  guilt  of  another,  the  punish- 
ment of  picketing,  which  had  for  some  years  been  abol- 
ished as  too  inhuman  even  in  the  dragoon  service,  was 
practised.  I  have  known  a  man,  in  order  to  extort 
confession  of  a  supposed  crime,  or  of  that  of  some  of  his' 
neighbors,  picketed  until  he  actually  fainted ;  picketed 
a  second  time,  until  he  fainted  again  ;  picketed  a  third 
time,  until  he  once  more  fainted  ;  and  all  upon  mere 
suspicion.  Nor  was  this  the  only  species  of  torture ; 
many  had  been  taken  and  hung  up  until  they  were  half 
dead,  and  then  threatened  with  a  repetition  of  this  cruel 
treatment  unless  they  made  confession  of  the  imputed 
guilt.  These,"  continued  his  lordship,  "were  not  par- 
ticular acts  of  cruelty,  exercised  by  men  abusing  the 
power  committed  to  them,  but  they  formed  part  of  a  sys- 
tem. They  were  notorious ;  and  no  person  could  say 
who  would  be  the  next  victim  of  this  oppression  and 
cruelty."  As  redress  was  hopeless,  and  Parliament 
equally  indifferent  to  cruelties  and  to  remonstrances, 
Mr.  Grattan  and  his  colleagues  left  the  Irish  house  to 
its  inhumanity  and  its  fate. 

In  the  autumn  of  this  year,  1197,  Mr.  Orr,  of  Antrim, 
was  tried  and  executed,  on  a  charge  of  administering 
the  oath  of  the  United  Irishmen  to  a  soldier.  This 
gentleman  was  a  person  of  high  character  and  respecta- 
bility. He  solemnly  protested  his  innocence  ;  the  sol- 
dier, stung  with  remorse,  swore  before  a  magistrate  that 
the  testimony  he  gave  at  the  trial  was  false.  Petitions 
were  at  once  sent  in,  praying  for  the  release  of  tbe  pris- 
oner, butin  vain  ;  he  was  executed  on  October  14,  though 
no  one  doubted  his  innocence  ;  and  "  Orr's  fate  ;;  became 
a  watchword  of  and  an  incitement  to  rebellion.  Several 
of  the  jury  made  a  solemn  oath  after  the  trial,  that, 
when  locked  up  for  the  night  to  "consider  "  their  ver- 


400 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


diet,  they  were  supplied  abundantly  with  intoxicating 
drinks,  and  informed,  one  and  all,  that,  if  they  did  not 
give  the  required  verdict  of  guilty,  they  should  them- 
selves be  prosecuted  as  United  Irishmen.  Mr.  Orr  was 
offered  his  life  and  liberty  again  and  again,  if  he  would 
admit  his  guilt.  His  wife  and  four  young  children  added 
their  tears  and  entreaties  to  the  persuasions  of  his 
friends ;  but  he  preferred  truth  and  honor  to  life  and 
freedom.  His  end  was  worthy  of  his  resolution.  On  the 
scaffold  he  turned  to  his  faithful  attendant,  and  asked 
him  to  remove  his  watch,  as  he  should  need  it  no  more. 
Mr.  Orr  was  a  sincere  Protestant;  his  servant  was  a 
Catholic.  His  last  words  are  happily  still  on  record. 
He  showed  the  world  how  a  Protestant  patriot  could 
die  ;  and  that  the  more  sincere  and  deep  his  piety,  the 
less  likely  he  would  be  to  indulge  in  fanatical  hatred  of 
those  who  differed  from  him.  "  You,  my  friend,"  he  said 
to  his  weeping  and  devoted  servant, —  "you,  my  friend 
and  I  must  now  part.  Our  stations  here  on  earth  have 
been  a  little  different,  and  our  mode  of  worshipping  the 
Almighty  Being  that  we  both  adore.  Before  his  presence 
we  shall  stand  equal.    Farewell !    Remember  Orr  !  " 

Sir  Ralph  Abercrombie  was  appointed  to  command 
the  army  in  Ireland,  in  17-97  ;  but  he  threw  up  his  charge, 
disgusted  with  atrocities  which  he  could  not  control, 
and  which  he  was  too  humane  even  to  appear  tc*  sanc- 
tion. He  declared  the  army  to  be  in  a  state  of  licentious- 
ness, which  made  it  formidable  to  everyone  but  the 
enemy.  General  Lake,  a  fitting  instrument  for  any  cru- 
elty, was  appointed  to  take  his  place ;  and  lord  Castle- 
reagh  states  that  "measures  were  taken  by  government 
to  cause  a  premature  explosion."  It  would  have  been 
more  Christian  in  the  first  place,  and  more  politic  in  the 
second  place,  if  government  had  taken  measures  to  pre- 
vent any  explosion  at  all. 

On  March  12,  1798,  the  Leinster  delegates,  who  had 
been  long  since  betrayed,  were  seized  by  major  Swan, 
in  Dublin.  Fifteen  persons  were  present,  the  greater 
number  of  whom  were  Protestants.  Emmet,  MacNevin, 
Jackson,  and  Sweetman,  were  seized  the  same  day. 
Arthur  O'Connor  had  already  been  arrested  on  his  way 
to  France,  with  Father  Coigley.  The  latter  was  con- 
victed on  May  22,  at  Maidstone,  and  hanged  on  evidence 


CAPTURE  OF  LORD  EDWARD  FITZGERALD.  401 

so  inconclusive,  that  lord-chancellor  Thurlow  said :  "  If 
ever  a  poor  man  was  murdered,  it  was  Coigley  !  "  The 
arrest  of  lord  Edward  Fitzgerald  occurred  soon  after. 
A  severe  wound,  which  he  received  in  the  struggle  with 
his  captors,  combined  with  the  effects  of  excitement  and 
imprisonment,  caused  his  death. 

The  23rd  of  May  had  been  fixed  for  the  rising ;  but  in- 
formations were  in  the  hands  of  the  government.  Captain 
Armstrong  had  betrayed  the  Sheares,  two  brothers  who 
had  devoted  themselves  to  the  cause  of  their  country 
with  more  affection  than  prudence.  The  base  traitor 
had  wound  himself  into  their  confidence,  had  dined  with 
them,  and  was  on  the  most  intimate  social  relations  with 
their  family.  On  July  12  he  swore  their  lives  away ; 
and  two  days  later  they  were  executed,  holding  each 
other's  hands  as  they  passed  into  eternity. 

The  rising  did  take  place,  but  it  was  only  partial.  The 
leaders  were  gone,  dead,  or  imprisoned  ;  and  nothing 
but  wild  desperation  could  have  induced  the  people  to 
rise  at  all. 

On  May  23  Dublin  was  placed  under  martial  law ;  the 
citizens  were  armed,  the  guard  was  trebled,  the  barris- 
ters pleaded  with  regimentals  and  swords,  and  several 
of  the  lamplighters  were  hung  from  their  own  lamp-posts 
for  neglecting  to  light  the  lamps.  The  country  people 
were  prepared  to  march  on  the  city,  but  lord  Roden  and 
his  fox-hunters  soon  put  down  their  attempt.  The  next 
morning  the  dead  were  exhibited  in  the  castle-yard,  and 
the  prisoners  were  hanged  at  Carlisle  bridge.  Sir  Wat- 
kin  Wynn  and  his  Ancient  Britons  distinguished  them- 
selves by  their  cruelties.  The  Homsperg  Dragoons  and 
the  Orange  Yeomanry  equalled  them  in  deeds  of  blood. 
The  fighting  commenced  in  Kildare,  on  the  24th,  by  an 
attack  on  Naas,  which  was  repelled  by  lord  Gosport. 
Two  of  his  officers  and  thirty  men  were  killed,  and  the 
people  were  shot  down  and  hanged  indiscriminately. 
"Such  was  the  brutal  ferocity  of  some  of  the  king's 
troops/7  says  Plowden,  "  that  they  half-roasted  and  eat 
the  flesh  of  one  man,  named  Walsh,  who  had  not  been 
in  arms."  At  Prosperous  the  insurgents  attacked  and 
burned  the  barracks,  and  piked  any  of  the  soldiers  who 
attempted  to  escape  from  the  flames.  This  regiment, 
the  North  Cork  militia,  had  been  specially  cruel  in  their 


402 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


treatment  of  the  people,  who  were  only  too  willing  to 
retaliate.  A  troop  of  dragoons,  confmanded  by  captain 
Erskine,  was  almost  annihilated  at  Old  Kilcullen.  But 
reverses  soon  followed.  At  Carlow  the  insurgents  met 
with  a  severe  defeat ;  and  the  defenceless  and  innocent 
inhabitants,  who  fled  into  their  houses  for  shelter  from 
the  fire,  were  cruelly  and  ruthlessly  burned  to  death  in 
their  own  habitations  by  the  military. 

A  body  of  two  thousand  men,  under  a  leader  named 
Perkins,  encamped  on  the  Hill  of  Allan,  and  agreed 
with  general  Douglas  to  lay  down  their  arms.  The  gen- 
eral was  honorable  and  humane,  but  his  subordinates 
were  not  so.  Major-general  Duff,  to  whom  the  arms 
were  to  have  been  delivered  up,  ordered  his  troops  to 
fire  on  the  people  when  they  had  assembled  for  that 
purpose.  Lord  Eoden's  cavalry  cut  them  down,  and 
an  immense  number  were  slaughtered  in  cold  blood. 
Another  attack  took  place  at  Tara,  where  the  Irish  were 
again  defeated.  The  insurrection  now  broke  out  in 
Wexford.  The  people  in  this  part  of  the  country  had 
not  joined  the  movement  in  any  way,  until  the  arrival 
of  the  North  Cork  militia,  commanded  by  lord  Kingsbor- 
ough.  The  men  paraded  in  orange  ribbons,  fired  at  the 
peaceful  country  people,  and  employed  pitch  caps  and 
torture,  until  their  victims  were  driven  to  desperation. 
The  county  was  proclaimed  on  April  27,  by  the  magis- 
trates ;  and  before  any  riot  had  taken  place,  Mr.  Hun- 
ter Gowan  paraded  through  Gorey  at  the  head  of  his 
yeomanry,  with  a  human  finger  on  the  point  of  his  sword, 
which  was  subsequently  used  to  stir  their  punch  in  the 
evening. 

On  Whit-Sunday,  May  27,  the  yeoman  burned  the 
Catholic  chapel  of  Bolavogue.  Father  John  Murphy^ 
the  parish  priest,  who  had  hitherto  tried  to  suppress  the 
insurrection,  placed  himself  at  the  head  of  the  insur- 
gents. The  men  now  rose  in  numbers,  and  marched  to 
Enniscorthy,  which  they  took  after  some  fighting.  Vine- 
gar Hill,  a  lofty  eminence  overlooking  the  town,  was 
chosen  for  their  camp.  Some  of  the  leading  Protestant 
gentlemen  of  the  county  had  either  favored  or  joined  the 
movement ;  and  several  of  them  had  been  arrested  on 
suspicion,  and  were  imprisoned  at  Wexford.  The  gar- 
rison of  this  place,  however,  fled  in  a  panic,  caused  by 


ENCAMPMENT  ON  VINEGAR  HILL. 


403 


some  successes  of  the  Irish  troops,  and  probably  from 
fear  of  the  retaliation  they  might  expect  for  their  cruel- 
ties. Mr.  Harvey,  one  of  the  prisoners  mentioned  above, 
was  now  released,  and  headed  the  insurgents ;  but  a 
powerful  body  of  troops,  under  general  Loftus,  was 
sent  into  the  district,  and  eventually  obtained  possession 
of  New  Ross,  which  the  Irish  had  taken  with  great 
bravery,  but  which  they  had  not  been  able  to  hold  for 
want  of  proper  military  discipline  and  command.  They 
owed  their  defeat  to  insubordination  and  drunkenness. 
A  number  of  prisoners  had  been  left  at  Scullabogue 
House,  near  Carrickburne  Hill.  Some  fugitives  from  the 
Irish  camp  came  up  in  the  afternoon,  and  pretended  that 
Mr.  Harvey  had  given  orders  for  their  execution,  al- 
leging, as  a  reason,  what,  indeed,  was  true,  that  the  roy- 
alists massacred  indiscriminately.  The  guard  resisted, 
but  were  overpowered  by  the  mob,  who  were  impatient 
to  revenge  without  justice  the  cruelties  which  had  been 
inflicted  on  them  without  justice.  A  hundred  were 
burned  in  a  barn,  and  thirty -seven  were  shot  or  piked. 
This  massacre  has  been  held  up  as  a  horrible  example  of 
Irish  treachery  and  cruelty.  It  was  horrible,  no  doubt, 
and  cannot  be  defended  or  palliated ;  but,  amid  these  con- 
tending horrors  of  cruel  war,  the  question  still  recurs : 
Upon  whom  is  the  original  guilt  of  causing  them,  to  be 
charged  ? 

Father  Murphy  was  killed  in  an  attack  on  Carlow, 
and  death  threw  the  balance  strongly  in  favor  of  the 
government  troops,  who  eventually  proved  victorious. 
After  the  battle  of  Ross,  the  Wexford  men  chose  the 
Rev.  Philip  Roche  as  their  leader,  in  place  of  Bagenal 
Harvey,  who  had  resigned  the  command.  The  insur- 
gents were  now  guilty  of  following  the  example  of  their 
persecutors,  if  not  with  equal  cruelty,  at  least  with  a 
barbarity  which  their  leaders  in  vain  reprobated.  The 
prisoners  whom  they  had  taken,  were  confined  in  the 
jail,  and  every  effort  was  made  to  save  them  from  the 
infuriated  people.  But  one  savage  named  Dixon  would 
not  be  content  without  their  blood  ;  and  while  the  army 
and  their  leaders  were  encamped  on  Vinegar  Hill,  he  and 
some  other  villains  as  wicked  as  himself  found  their  way 
into  the  jail,  and  marched  the  prisoners  to  the  bridge, 
held  a  mock  trial,  and  then  piked  thirty -five  of  their  vie- 


404 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


tims,  and  flung  them  into  the  water.  At  this  moment 
a  priest,  who  had  heard  of  the  bloody  deed,  hastened  to 
the  spot ;  and  after  in  vain  commanding  them  to  desist, 
succeeded  at  last  in  making  them  kneel  down,  when  he 
dictated  a  prayer  that  God  might  show  them  the  same 
mercy  which  they  would  show  to  the  surviving  prison- 
ers. This  had  its  effect ;  and  the  men,  who  waited  in 
terror  to  receive  the  doom  they  had  so  often  and  so 
mercilessly  inflicted  on  others,  were  marched  back  to 
prison. 

The  camp  on  Vinegar  Hill  was  now  beset  on  all  sides 
by  the  royal  troops.  An  attack  was  planned  by  gen- 
eral Lake,  with  twenty  thousand  men  and  a  large  train 
of  artillery.  General  Needham  did  not  arrive  in  time  to 
occupy  the  position  appointed  for  him;  and  after  an 
hour  and  a-half  of  hard  fighting,  the  Irish  gave  way, 
principally  from  want  of  gunpowder.  The  soldiers  now 
indulged  in  the  most  wanton  deeds  of  cruelty.  The  hos- 
pital at  Enniscorthy  was  set  on  fire,  and  the  wounded 
men  shot  in  their  beds.  At  Wexford  general  Moore 
prevented  his  troops  from  committing  such  outrages ; 
but  when  the  rest  of  the  army  arrived,  they  acted  as 
they  had  done  at  Enniscorthy.  Courts-martial  were 
held,  in  which  the  officers  were  not  even  sworn,  and  vic- 
tims were  consigned  to  execution  with  reckless  atrocity. 
The  bridge  of  Wexford,  where  a  Catholic  priest  had 
saved  so  many  Protestant  lives,  was  now  chosen  for  the 
scene  of  slaughter ;  and  all  this  in  spite  of  a  promise  of 
amnesty.  Father  Roche  and  Mr.  Keogh  were  the  first  vic- 
tims of  the  higher  classes  ;  Messrs.  Grogan,  Harvey,  and 
Colclough  were  hanged  the  following  day.  A  mixed 
commission  was  now  formed  of  the  magistrates,  who  were 
principally  Orangemen,  and  the  military,  whose  viru- 
lence was  equally  great.  Mr.  Gordon,  a  Protestant 
clergyman,  whose  History  of  the  Rebellion  we  have 
principally  followed  as  he  was  an  eye-witness  of  its 
miseries,  declares  that  "  whoever  could  be  proved  to 
have  saved  an  Orangeman  or  royalist  from  assassination, 
his  house  from  burning,  or  his  property  from  plunder, 
was  considered  as  having  influence  amongst  the  revolt- 
ers,  and  consequently  as  a  rebel  commander. "  The 
reward  for  their  charity  now  was  instant  execution. 
John  Redmond,  the  Catholic  priest  of  Newtonbarry,  had 


EXECUTION  OF  REDMOND. 


405 


saved  lord  Mountmorris  and  other  gentlemen  from  the 
fury  of  the  exasperated  people,  and  had  preserved  his 
house  and  property  from  plunder.  He  was  now  sent  for 
by  this  nobleman  ;  and,  conscious  of  his  innocence,  and 
the  benefits  he  had  rendered  him,  he  at  once  obeyed  the 
summons.  On  his  arrival,  he  was  seized,  brought  be- 
fore the  court,  and  executed  on  the  pretence  of  having 
been  a  commander  in  the  rebel  army.  He  had,  indeed, 
commanded,  but  the  only  commands  he  ever  uttered 
were  commands  of  mercy.  Well  might  Mr.  Gordon 
sorrowfully  declare,  that  he  had  "heard  of  hundreds  of 
United  Irishmen,  during  the  insurrection,  who  have,  at 
the  risk  of  their  lives,  saved  Orangemen  ;  but  I  have  not 
heard  of  a  single  Orangeman  who  encountered  any  dan- 
ger to  save  the  life  of  a  United  Irishman. 11  With  equal 
sorrow  he  remarks  the  difference  in  the  treatment  of 
females  by  each  party.  The  Irish  were  never  once  ac- 
cused of  having  offered  the  slightest  insult  to  a  woman; 
the  military,  besides  shooting  them  indiscriminately  with 
the  men,  treated  them  in  a  way  which  cannot  be  de- 
scribed, and  under  circumstances  which  added  a  more 
than  savage  inhumanity  to  their  crime. 

The  next  act  of  the  fatal  drama  was  the  execution  of 
the  state  prisoners.  The  rising  in  Ulster  had  been  ren- 
dered ineffective,  happily  for  the  people,  by  the  with- 
drawal of  some  of  the  leaders  at  the  last  moment.  The 
command  in  Antrim  was  taken  by  Henrry  M'Cracken, 
who  was  at  last  captured  by  the  royalists,  and  executed 
at  Belfast,  on  June  IT.  At  Saintfield,  in  Down,  they 
were  commanded  by  Henry  Monroe,  who  had  been  a 
Volunteer,  and  had  some  knowledge  of  military  tactics. 
In  an  engagement  at  Ballinahinch,  he  showed  consid- 
erable ability  in  the  disposal  of  his  forces,  but  they  were 
eventually  defeated,  and  he  also  paid  the  forfeit  of  his 
life.  A  remnant  of  the  Wexford  insurrection  was  all  that 
remained  to  be  crushed.  On  June  21,  lord  Oornwallis 
was  sent  to  Ireland,  with  the  command  both  of  the  mil- 
itary forces  and  the  civil  power.  On  July  IT  an  amnesty 
was  proclaimed  ;  and  the  majority  of  the  state  prisoners 
were  permitted  eventually  to  leave  the  country,  having 
purchased  their  pardon  by  an  account  of  the  plans  of  the 
United  Irishmen,  which  were  so  entirely  broken  up  that 


406 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


their  honor  was  in  no  way  compromised  by  the  disclo- 
sure. 

The  French  allies  of  Irish  insurgents  appear  to  have  a 
fatality  for  arriving  precisely  when  their  services  are 
worse  than  useless.  On  August  22,  If 98,  Humbert 
landed  at  Killala  with  a  small  French  force,  which,  after 
a  number  of  engagements,  was  eventually  obliged  to 
surrender  at  discretion.  Thus  ended  the  memorable 
rebellion  of  1798.  If  its  details  were  not  a  matter  of 
history,  and  if  it  were  not  absolutely  necessary  that  the 
student  should  on  this  account  be  made  acquainted  with 
them,  we  might  have  omitted  a  record  as  painful  to  write 
as  it  is  to  read.  But  history  continually  repeats  itself, 
and  the  narrative  may  well  claim  our  attention  as  teach- 
ing a  lesson  which  we  cannot  afford  to  disregard. 


THE  ACT  OF  UNION  PASSED. 


407 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

A.  D.  1798  TO  A.  D.  1800. 

THE  LEGISLATIVE  UNION  BETWEEN  GREAT  BRITAIN 
AND  IRELAND. 

There  can  be  little  doubt  that  Mr.  Pitt  had  the  Union 
of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  in  view  some  time  before  its 
accomplishment.  It  has  been  said,  and  the  statement 
has  been  recently  repeated  with  some  show  of  authority, 
that  "the  people  of  Ireland  were  goaded  into  an  insur- 
rection, in  order  that  a  pretext  might  be  obtained  for 
bringing  about  the  union  between  the  two  countries." 
However  this  may  be,  it  is  at  least  certain  that  the  union 
was  proposed  on  January  22,  1799.  The  principal 
agents  in  effecting  this  change,  were,  in  England,  Mr. 
Pitt,  prime  minister,  and  his  colleagues,  the  duke  of 
Portland,  lord  Grenville,  and  Mr.  Dundas.  The  king  also 
was  strongly  in  favor  of  the  Union,  and  he  had  already 
opposed  lord  Fitzwilliam's  emancipation  policy,  which 
he  characterized  as  adopted  "  in  implicit  obedience  to  the 
brutal  imagination  of  Mr.  Burke."  He  had  instructed 
lord  Camden  "to  support  the  old  English  interest  as 
well  as  the  Protestant  religion,"  not  having  a  suffi- 
ciently enlarged  mind  to  perceive,  that  to  support  one 
interest  or  one  religion  in  preference  to  another,  must 
inevitably  create  division  in  the  state,  and  by  creating 
division  weaken  the  power  of  the  whole  body  politic. 
He  desired  lord  Cornwallis  to  grant  no  further  indul- 
gence to  Catholics,  oblivious  of  the  fact,  that  all  the 
indulgence  which  they  asked,  was  the  right  of  any  man 
to  worship  God  as  his  conscience  dictated, 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  lord  Cornwallis  accepted 
the  office  of  lord  lieutenant  from  an  ambitious  desire  to 
connect  his  name  with  the  great  national  event  which  he 
proposed  to  effect.    He  was  a  man  of  superior  intellect, 


408 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


of  good  business  habits,  tolerant  for  his  age,  and  pos- 
sessed of  sufficient  tact  to  gain  his  end,  and  sufficient 
firmness  to  pursue  it  steadily. 

In  Ireland  the  principal  agents  were  lord  Clare  and 
lord  Castlereagh.  One  sought  to  carry  the  measure  by 
violence,  and  the  other  by  bribery.  Their  characters 
were  as  opposite  as  the  means  they  employed ;  and 
hence,  as  both  worked  together  for  the  one  end,  they 
could  hardly  fail  in  accomplishing  their  object. 

The  Irish  Parliament,  which  had  been  adjourned  dur- 
ing the  greater  part  of  the  time  of  civil  war,  was  assem- 
bled a  week  after  the  arrival  of  lord  Cornwallis.  Both 
houses  voted  loyal  addresses  to  the  king  and  lord-lieu- 
tenant, and  100,000Z.  to  indemnify  those  who  had  suffered 
from  the  rebellion.  The  benefit  of  this  grant,  however, 
was  entirely  bestowed  upon  Protestants,  though  the 
Catholics  had  been  the  principal  sufferers. 

In  July,  five  consecutive  acts  —  a  complete  code  of 
penalties  and  proscription  —  were  introduced,  and  after 
various  debates  and  delays,  received  the  royal  sanction 
on  October  6,  the  last  day  of  the  session  of  1798.  These 
acts  were  :  1.  The  Amnesty  Act,  the  exceptions  to  which 
were  so  numerous,  "that  few  of  those  who  took  any 
active  part  in  the  rebellion  "  were,  according  to  the 
Cornwallis'  correspondence,  "  benefited  by  it."  2.  An 
Act  of  Indemnity,  by  which  all  magistrates  who  had 
"  exercised  a  vigor  beyond  the  law  79  against  the  rebels, 
were  protected  from  the  legal  consequences  of  such  acts. 

3.  An  Act  for  attainting  lord  Edward  Fitzgerald,  Mr. 
Harvey,  and  Mr.  Grogan,  against  which  Curran,  taking 
"  his  instructions  from  the  grave,"  pleaded  at  the  bar 
of  the  house  of  lords,  but  pleaded  in  vain.  (This  Act 
was  finally  repealed  by  the  Imperial  Parliament  in  1819.) 

4.  An  Act  forbidding  communication  between  persons 
in  Ireland  and  those  enumerated  in  the  Banishment  Act, 
and  making  the  return  to  Ireland  after  sentence  of  ban- 
ishment by  a  court-martial  a  transportable  felony.  5. 
An  act  to  compel  fifty-one  persons  therein  named  to 
surrender  before  December  1,  1798.  under  pain  of  high 
treason.  Among  the  fifty-one  were  the  principal  refugees 
at  Paris  and  Hamburgh:  Tone,  Lewines,  Swift,  Tandy, 
Deane,  Major  Plunkett,  Anthony  McCann,  Harvey,  Mor- 
ris, &c.    On  the  same  day  in  which  the  session  termi- 


PREPARATIONS  FOR  THE  UNION. 


4.09 


nated  and  the  royal  sanction  was  given  to  these  Acts, 
the  name  of  Henry  Grattan  was  (a  significant  coinci- 
dence) formally  struck  from  the  roll  of  the  Irish  Privy 
Council,  by  the  king's  command. 

Thus  the  Irish  Parliament  was  made  to  act  against 
all  the  feelings  and  interests  of  the  nation,  and  hence 
the  nation  was  all  the  more  willing  to  forego  the  services 
of  the  Parliament.  The  next  step  was  to  influence  the 
members  of  the  Irish  houses.  Tithes,  pensions,  and 
offices  were  freely  promised,  and  a  large  sum  of  money 
was  remitted  from  Whitehall,  and  expended  in  bribes, 
which  was  afterwards  added  as  a  charge  to  the  public 
debt  of  Ireland. 

The  project  was  first  decidedly  announced  by  a  pam- 
phlet written  by  Mr.  Edward  Cooke,  the  Under-secretary, 
entitled  "  Arguments  for  and  against  a  Union  consid- 
ered." More  than  a  hundred  pamphlets,  either  in  reply 
or  approval,  were  published  in  a  few  weeks.  The  ex- 
citement became  intense,  as  it  well  might,  when  such 
a  great  national  question  was  mooted.  The  only  obsta- 
cle was  the  bar,  which  lord  Clare,  the  most  absolute 
subject  of  modern  times,  at  once  attempted  to  bribe  into 
compliance.  He  doubled  the  number  of  bankrupt  com- 
missioners, he  revived  some  offices,  and  created  others, 
and  in  two  months  established  thirty -two  new  offices, 
the  value  of  each  being  from  six  to  eight  hundred  pounds 
per  annum. 

The  Catholics  were  won  over  by  promises  of  emanci- 
pation, which  there  was  certainly  no  intention  to  fulfil, 
and  by  personal  compliments  to  leading  bishops.  The 
Orangemen  were  secured  by  the  bribery  of  a  majority 
of  their  leaders,  and  the  hope  that  henceforth  they 
would  be  in  the  ascendant.  The  Protestant  clergy  were 
assured  that  the  maintenance  of  the  established  church 
would  be  a  fundamental  article  of  the  Union,  a  matter 
of  considerable  importance  to  them,  as  they  had  never 
secured  any  real  ground  amongst  the  population  of  Ire- 
land. 

At  the  close  of  the  year  1798,  lord  Cornwallis  was  able 
to  report  to  his  government  that  the  prospect  of  carrying 
the  measure  was  more  promising  than  he  had  expected, 
and  he  was  presently  authorized  to  bring  it  forward  in 
his  speech  at  the  opening  of  the  next  session. 


410 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


Oa  January  22,  1799,  the  viceroy  went  down  to  the 
houses  of  Parliament,  followed  by  thousands,  and  at- 
tended by  a  strong  guard.  He  congratulated  both 
houses  on  the  suppression  of  the  rebellion,  on  the  defeat 
of  Bonaparte's  squadron,  and  on  lord  Nelson's  victory, 
and  concluded  thus  :  "The  unremitting  industry  with 
which  our  enemies  persevere  in  their  avowed  design  of 
endeavoring  to  effect  a  separation  of  this  kingdom  from 
Great  Britain,  must  have  engaged  your  attention,  and 
his  majesty  commands  me  to  express  his  anxious  hope 
that  this  consideration,  joined  to  the  sentiment  of  mutual 
affection,  and  common  interest,  may  dispose  the  Parlia- 
ments in  both  kingdoms  to  provide  the  most  effectual 
means  of  maintaining  and  improving  a  connection  essen- 
tial to  their  common  security,  and  of  consolidating,  as 
far  as  possible,  into  one  firm  and  lasting  fabric,  the 
strength,  the  power,  and  the  resources  of  the  British 
empire."  On  the  paragraph  of  the  address,  re-echoing 
this  sentiment,  which  was  carried  by  a  large  majority  in 
the  lords,  a  debate  ensued  in  the  commons  which  lasted 
till  one  o'clock  of  the  following  day,  above  twenty  con- 
secutive hours.  Ponsonby,  Parsons,  Fitzgerald,  Bar- 
rington,  Plunkett,  Lee,  O'Donnell,  and  Bushe  spoke 
against  the  Union;  lord  Castlereagh,  the  knight  of 
Kerry,  Corry,  Fox,  Osborne,  Duigenan,  and  some  other 
members  of  little  note,  spoke  in  favor  of  it.  The  gal- 
leries and  lobbies  were  crowded  all  night  by  the  leading 
people  of  the  city,  of  both  sexes,  and  when  the  division 
was  being  taken,  the  most  intense  anxiety  was  mani- 
fested, within  doors  and  without.  At  length  the  tellers 
made  their  report  to  the  speaker,  himself  an  ardent  anti- 
Unionist,  and  it  was  announced  that  the  numbers  were  — 
"  for  the  address,  one  hundred  and  five  ;  for  the  amend- 
ment, one  hundred  and  six  ;  "  so  the  paragraph  in  favor 
of  "consolidating  the  empire"  was  lost  by  one  vote. 
The  remainder  of  the  address,  with  the  expunged  para- 
graph, was  barely  carried  by  one  hundred  and  seven  to 
one  hundred  and  five.  Mr.  Ponsonby  had  attempted 
to  follow  his  victory  by  a  solemn  pledge  binding  the 
majority  never  again  to  entertain  the  question  ;  but  to 
this  several  members  objected,  and  the  motion  was 
withdrawn. 

In  the  English  Parliament,  which  met  on  the  same  day 


RESOLUTIONS  FOR  THE  UNION. 


411 


as  the  Irish,  a  paragraph  was  introduced  in  the  king's 
speech  on  the  subject  of  the  Union,  identical  with  that 
moved  by  lord  Cornwallis.  An  amendment  was  proposed 
by  Sheridan,  and  resisted  by  Canning.  Several  English 
members  also  sided  with  the  opposition,  but  without 
effect. 

The  resolutions  intended  to  serve  as  "  the  basis  of 
union,"  were  introduced  by  Mr.  Pitt,  on  January  21,  and 
after  another  powerful  speech  in  opposition  from  Mr. 
Gray,  who  was  ably  sustained  by  Mr.  Sheridan,  Dr. 
Lawrence,  and  some  twenty  others,  were  put  and  car- 
ried.   The  following  are  the  resolutions  :  — 

1st.  w  In  order  to  promote  and  secure  the  essential  in- 
terests of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  and  to  consolidate 
the  strength,  power,  and  resources  of  the  British  empire, 
it  will  be  advisable  to  concur  in  such  measures  as  may 
tend  to  unite  the  two  kingdoms  of  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland  into  one  kingdom,  in  such  manner  and  on  such 
terms  and  conditions  as  may  be  established  by  acts  of 
the  respective  Parliaments  of  his  majesty's  said  king- 
doms. 

2nd.  "  It  would  be  fit  to  propose  as  the  first  article,  to 
serve  as  a  basis  of  the  said  union,  that  the  said  king- 
doms of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  shall,  on  a  day  to  be 
agreed  upon,  be  united  into  one  kingdom,  by  the  name 
of  the  United  Kingdom  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland. 

3rd.  "  For  the  same  purpose  it  would  be  fit  to  propose, 
that  the  succession  to  the  monarchy  and  the  imperial 
crown  of  the  said  United  kingdom  snail  continue  limited 
and  settled,  in  the  same  manner  as  the  imperial  crown 
of  the  said  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  now  stands  limited 
and  settled,  according  to  the  existing  law,  and  to  the 
terms  of  the  union  between  England  and  Scotland. 

4th.  "  For  the  same  purpose  it  would  be  fit  to  propose, 
that  the  said  United  Kingdom  be  represented  in  one  and 
the  same  Parliament,  to  be  styled  the  Parliament  of  the 
United  Kingdom  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  ;  and  that 
such  a  number  of  lords,  spiritual  and  temporal,  and  such 
a  number  of  members  of  the  house  of  commons,  as  shall 
be  hereafter  agreed  upon  by  the  acts  of  the  respective 
Parliaments  as  aforesaid,  shall  sit  and  vote  in  the  said 
Parliament  on  the  part  of  Ireland,  and  shall  be  summoned, 


412 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


chosen,  and  returned,  in  such  manner  as  shall  be  fixed 
by  an  act  of  the  Parliament  of  Ireland  previous  to  the 
said  union  ;  and  that  every  member  hereafter  to  sit  and 
vote  in  the  said  Parliament  of  the  United  Kingdom  shall, 
until  the  said  Parliament  shall  otherwise  provide,  take, 
and  subscribe  the  said  oaths,  and  make  the  same  declar- 
ations as  are  required  by  law  to  be  taken,  subscribed, 
and  made  by  the  members  of  the  Parliaments  of  Great 
Britain  and  Ireland. 

5th.  "  For  the  same  purpose  it  would  be  fit  to  propose, 
that  the  churches  of  England  and  Ireland,  and  the  doc- 
trine, worship,  discipline,  and  government  thereof,  shall 
be  preserved  as  now  by  law  established. 

6th.  "  For  the  same  purpose  it  would  be  fit  to  propose, 
that  his  majesty's  subjects  in  Ireland  shall  at  all  times 
be  entitled  to  the  same  privileges,  and  be  on  the  same 
footing  in  respect  of  trade  and  navigation  in  all  ports 
and  places  belonging  to  Great  Britain,  and  in  all  cases 
with  respect  to  which  treaties  shall  be  made  by  his  maj- 
esty, his  heirs,  or  successors,  with  any  foreign  power, 
as  his  majesty's  subjects  in  Great  Britain  ;  that  no  duty 
shall  be  imposed  on  the  import  or  export  between  Great 
Britain  and  Ireland  of  any  articles  now  duty  free,  and 
that  on  other  articles  there  shall  be  established,  for  a 
time  to  be  limited,  such  a  moderate  rate  of  equal  duties 
as  shall,  previous  to  the  union,  be  agreed  upon  and 
approved  by  the  respective  Parliaments,  subject,  after 
the  expiration  of  such  limited  time,  to  be  diminished 
equally  with  respect  to  both  kingdoms,  but  in  no  case 
to  be  increased  ;  that  all  articles,  which  may  at  any  time 
hereafter  be  imported  into  Great  Britain  from  foreign 
parts  shall  be  importable  through  either  kingdom  into 
the  other,  subject  to  the  like  duties  and  regulations,  as 
if  the  same  were  imported  directly  from  foreign  parts  : 
that  where  any  articles,  the  growth,  produce,  or  manu- 
facture of  either  kingdom,  are  subject  to  an  internal  duty 
in  one  kingdom,  such  counter-vailing  duties  (over  and 
above  any  duties  on  import  to  be  fixed  as  aforesaid,) 
shall  be  imposed  as  shall  be  necessary  to  prevent  any 
inequality  in  that  respect;  and  that  all  matters  of  trade 
and  commerce,  other  than  the  foregoing,  and  than  such 
others  as  may  before  the  union  be  specially  agreed  upon 


RESOLUTIONS  FOR  THE  UNION. 


413 


for  the  due  encouragement  of  the  agriculture  and  manu- 
factures of  the  respective  kingdoms,  shall  remain  to  be 
regulated  from  time  to  time  by  the  united  Parliament. 

7th.  "  For  the  like  purpose  it  would  be  fit  to  propose, 
that  the  charge  arising  from  the  payment  of  the  interests 
or  sinking  fund  for  the  reduction  of  the  principal  of  the 
debt  incurred  in  either  kingdom  before  the  union,  shall 
continue  to  be  separately  defrayed  by  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland  respectively  ;  that,  for  a  number  of  years  to  be 
limited,  the  future  ordinary  expenses  of  the  United  King- 
dom, in  peace  or  war,  shall  be  defrayed  by  Great  Britain 
and  Ireland  jointly,  according  to  such  proportions  as 
shall  be  established  by  the  respective  Parliaments  pre- 
vious to  the  union  ;  and  that,  after  the  expiration  of  the 
time  to  be  so  limited,  the  proportion  shall  not  be  liable 
to  be  varied,  except  according  to  such  rates  and  princi- 
ples as  shall  be  in  like  manner  agreed  upon  previous  to 
the  union. 

8th.  "  For  the  like  purpose,  that  all  laws  in  force  at 
the  time  of  the  union,  and  all  the  courts  of  civil  or  eccle- 
siastical jurisdiction  within  the  respective  kingdoms, 
shall  remain  as  now  by  law  established  within  the  same, 
subject  only  to  such  alterations  or  regulations  from  time 
to  time  as  circumstances  may  appear  to  the  Parliament 
of  the  United  Kingdom  to  require." 

Mr.  Pitt,  on  the  passage  of  these  resolutions,  proposed 
an  address,  stating  that  the  commons  had  proceeded 
with  the  utmost  attention  to  the  consideration  of  the 
important  objects  recommended  in  the  royal  message, 
that  they  entertained  a  firm  persuasion  of  the  probable 
benefits  of  a  complete  and  entire  union  between  Great 
Britain  and  Ireland,  founded  on  equal  and  liberal  prin- 
ciples ;  that  they  were  therefore  induced  to  lay  before 
his  majesty  such  propositions  as  appeared  to  them  to  be 
best  calculated  to  form  the  basis  of  such  a  settlement, 
leaving  it  to  his  wisdom  in  due  time  and  in  proper  man- 
ner to  communicate  them  to  the  lords  and  commons  of 
Ireland,  with  whom  they  would  be  at  all  times  ready  to 
concur  in  all  such  measures  as  might  be  found  most 
conducive  to  the  accomplishment  of  that  great  and  sal- 
utary work. 

On  March  19,  lord  Grenville  introduced  the  same  res- 
olutions in  the  lords,  where  they  were  passed  after  a 


414 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


spirited  opposition  speech  from  lord  Holland,  and  the 
basis,  so  far  as  the  king,  lords,  and  commons  were  con- 
cerned, was  laid.  In  proroguing  the  Irish  houses  on 
June  1,  lord  Cornwallis  alluded  to  these  resolutions,  and 
the  anxiety  of  the  king,  as  the  common  father  of  the 
people,  to  see  both  kingdoms  united  in  the  enjoyment 
of  the  blessings  of  a  free  constitution. 

In  the  meantime,  Parliament  was  prorogued  until 
August,  when  the  prorogation  was  further  extended 
until  January,  1800.  During  the  interval  the  adherents 
of  each  party  propagated  their  several  views  with  ardor, 
and  often  with  acrimony.  Although  bribery  was  largely 
used,  there  is  no  doubt  that  many  who  were  weary 
of  civil  war  and  theological  acrimony  hoped  to  find  in 
this  union  freedom  from  both,  and  prosperity  for  their 
native  land  ;  but  the  great  majority  were  men  who  could 
not  resist  the  attractions  of  place  and  pension. 

The  Irish  Parliament  met  for  the  last  time  on  January 
13,  1800.  Twenty -seven  new  peers  had  been  added  to 
the  house  of  lords.  In  the  commons  there  were  fifty 
new  borough  members,  all  pledged  to  vote  with  the 
government.  The  bankers  and  the  lawyers  had  both 
opposed  the  measure ;  the  Catholic  bishops  remained 
neutral.  Seven  hundred  thousand  of  the  Irish  people 
petitioned  against  the  union,  and  only  seven  thousand 
in  favor  of  it,  although  every  exertion  was  made  to 
obtain  signatures. 

In  the  house  of  lords  lord  Clare  had  seventy -five  votes, 
including  proxies,  for  his  union  address,  against  twenty- 
six.  Lord  Castlereagh  stated  his  plan  of  union  in  the 
commons,  and  held  out  the  hopes,  already  offered  pri- 
vately, to  the  various  parties.  The  proprietors  of  bor- 
oughs were  also  given  to  understand  that  they  would 
receive  a  large  sum  to  compensate  them  for  their  loss 
of  patronage.  Sir  Jonah  Barrington,  an  eye-witness 
and  actor  in  the  scene,  has  thus  described  it:  '  'Every 
mind,"  he  says,  "was  at  its  stretch,  every  talent  was 
in  its  vigor  :  it  was  a  momentous  trial ;  and  never  was 
so  general  and  so  deep  a  sensation  felt  in  any  country. 
Numerous  British  noblemen  and  commoners  were  present 
at  that  and  the  succeeding  debate,  and  they  expressed 
opinions  of  Irish  eloquence  which  they  had  never  before 
conceived,  nor  ever  after  had  an  opportunity  of  appreci- 


PROTEST  OF  GRATTAN. 


415 


ating.  Everyman  on  that  night  seemed  to  be  inspired  by 
the  subject.  Speeches  more  replete  with  talent  and  en- 
ergy on  both  sides,  never  were  heard  in  the  Irish  senate  ; 
it  was  a  vital  subject.  The  sublime,  the  eloquent,  the 
figurative  orator,  the  plain,  the  connected,  the  metaphys- 
ical reasoner,  the  classical,  the  learned,  and  the  solemn 
declaimer,  in  a  succession  of  speeches  so  full  of  energy 
and  enthusiasm,  so  interesting  in  their  nature,  so  import- 
ant in  their  consequence,  created  a  variety  of  sensations 
even  in  the  bosom  of  a  stranger,  and  could  scarcely  fail 
of  exciting  some  sympathy  with  a  nation  which  was 
doomed  to  close  for  ever  that  school  of  eloquence  which 
had  so  long  given  character  and  celebrity  to  Irish  tal- 
ent." 

At  daybreak,  Grattan  was  aroused  from  his  sick  bed 
by  a  special  messenger  from  Wicklow,  who  brought  the 
intelligence  of  his  election  for  that  borough.  Weak  and 
feeble  as  he  was,  he  determined  to  go  down  to  the  house, 
and  arrived  there  at  seven  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the 
16th.  He  appeared  supported  by  two  of  his  friends, 
Arthur  Moore  and  William  Ponsonby.  He  bowed  to  the 
speaker,  took  the  oaths,  and  then  asked  permission  to 
address  the  house  sitting ;  but  his  eloquence,  great  as 
it  was,  could  not  move  men  already  determined  on  a 
certain  line  of  action.  There  was  a  union  majority  of 
forty -two,  after  a  debate  of  eighteen  hours.  It  was  now 
a  mere  question  of  time.  On  February  5  the  lord  lieu- 
tenant sent  a  formal  message,  proposing  the  basis  of 
union,  which  was  discussed  for  twenty  consecutive 
hours.  At  twelve  o'clock  on  February  6,  government 
had  a  majority  of  forty-three. 

The  house  went  into  committee  on  February  IT,  when 
the  ministry  again  commanded  a  majority.  It  was  on 
this  occasion  that  Mr.  Corry,  chancellor  of  the  exchequer, 
and  member  for  Newry,  made,  for  the  third  or  fourth 
time  that  session,  an  attack  on  Grattan,  which  brought 
lout  on  the  instant,  that  famous  "philippic  against  Corry," 
unequalled  in  our  language,  for  its  well-suppressed 
passion,  and  finely  condensed  denunciation.  A  duel  fol- 
lowed, as  soon  as  there  was  sufficient  light;  the  chan- 
cellor was  wounded,  after  which  the  Castlereagh  tactics 
of  "fighting  down  the  opposition,"  received  an  imme- 
diate and  lasting  check. 


416 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


Throughout  the  months  of  February  and  March,  with 
an  occasional  adjournment,  the  constitutional  battle  was 
fought,  on  every  point  permitted  by  the  forms  of  the 
house.  On  March  25,  the  committee,  after  another  pow- 
erful speech  from  the  speaker,  finally  reported  the  reso- 
lutions, which  were  passed  by  one  hundred  and  fifty -four 
to  one  hundred  and  seven  —  a  majority  of  forty- seven. 
The  houses  then  adjourned  for  six  weeks  to  allow  time 
for  corresponding  action  to  be  taken  in  England.  There 
was  little  difficulty  in  carrying  the  measure.  In  the 
upper  house,  lords  Derby,  Holland,  and  King  only  op- 
posed it ;  in  the  lower,  Sheridan,  Tierney,  Grey  and 
Lawrence  mustered,  on  a  division,  thirty  votes  against 
Pitt's  two  hundred  and  six.  On  May  21,  in  the  Irish 
commons,  lord  Castlereagh  obtained  leave  to  bring  in 
the  Union  Bill  by  one  hundred  and  sixty  to  one  hun- 
dred:  on  June  7,  the  final  passage  of  the  measure  was 
effected. 

Barrington  has  thus  graphically  described  the  last 
night  of  the  Irish  Parliament:  "The  situation  of  the 
speaker  on  that  night  was  of  the  most  distressing  nature. 
A  sincere  and  ardent  enemy  of  the  measure,  he  headed 
its  opponents  ;  he  resisted  with  all  the  power  of  his 
mind,  the  resources  of  his  experience,  his  influence,  and 
his  eloquence.  It  was,  however,  through  his  voice  that 
it  was  to  be  proclaimed  and  consummated.  His  only 
alternative  (resignation)  would  have  been  unavailing, 
and  could  have  added  nothing  to  his  character.  His 
expressive  countenance  bespoke  the  inquietude  of  his 
feeling  ;  solicitude  was  perceptible  in  every  glance,  and 
his  embarrassment  was  obvious  in  every  word  he  ut- 
tered. 

"  The  galleries  were  full,  but  the  change  was  lam- 
entable ;  they  were  no  longer  crowded  with  those  who 
had  been  accustomed  to  witness  the  eloquence  and  to 
animate  the  debates  of  that  devoted  assembly.  A  mo- 
notonous and  melancholy  murmur  ran  through  benches, 
scarcely  a  word  was  exchanged  amongst  the  members, 
nobody  seemed  at  ease,  no  cheerfulness  was  apparent, 
and  the  ordinary  business,  for  a  short  time,  proceeded 
in  the  usual  manner. 

"  At  length  the  expected  moment  arrived.  The  order 
of  the  day  for  the  third  reading  of  the  bill  for  a  1  Leg- 


THE  LAST  NIGHT  OF  THE  IRISH  PARLIAMENT.  417 

islative  Union  between  Great  Britain  and  Ireland/ 
was  moved  by  lord  Castlereagh.  Unvaried,  tame,  cold- 
blooded the  words  seemed  frozen  as  they  issued  from 
his  lips  ;  and,  as  a  simple  citizen  of  the  world,  he  seemed 
to  have  no  sensation  on  the  subject. 

"  At  that  moment  he  had  no  country,  no  God  but  his 
ambition  :  he  made  his  motion,  and  resumed  his  seat 
with  the  utmost  composure  and  indifference. 

"  Confused  murmurs  ran  through  the  house;  it  was 
visibly  affected.  Every  character  seemed  in  a  moment 
involuntarily  rushing  to  its  index  —  some  pale,  some 
flushed,  some  agitated  ;  there  were  few  countenances  to 
which  the  heart  did  not  despatch  some  messenger.  Sev- 
eral members  withdrew  before  the  question  could  be 
repeated,  and  an  awful,  momentary  silence  succeeded 
their  departure.  The  speaker  rose  slowly  from  that 
chair  which  had  been  the  proud  source  of  his  honors 
and  of  his  high  character  ;  for  a  moment  he  resumed  his 
seat,  but  the  strength  of  his  mind  sustained  him  in  his 
duty,  though  his  struggle  was  apparent.  With  that  dig- 
nity which  never  failed  to  signalize  his  official  actions,  he 
held  up  the  bill  for  a  moment  in  silence  ;  he  looked  stead- 
ily around  him  on  the  last  agony  of  the  expiring  Parlia- 
ment. He  at  length  repeated,  in  an  emphatic  tone,  '  As 
many  as  are  of  opinion  that  this  bill  do  pass,  say  aye.' 
The  affirmative  was  languid  but  indisputable  ;  another 
momentary  pause  ensued ;  again  his  lips  seemed  to 
decline  their  office  ;  at  length,  with  an  eye  averted  from 
the  object  which  he  hated,  he  proclaimed,  with  a  sub- 
dued voice,  '  The  ayes  have  it.'  The  fatal  sentence 
was  now  pronounced.  For  an  instant  he  stood  statue- 
like ;  then  indignantly  and  with  disgust  flung  the  bill 
upon  the  table  and  sunk  into  his  chair  with  an  exhausted 
spirit/' 

All  the  stages  were  passed  in  the  English  Parliament 
during  the  month  of  July,  and  the  royal  assent  was 
given  on  August  2.  By  the  provisions  of  the  act,  the 
sovereignty  of  the  United  Kingdom  was  to  follow  the 
order  of  the  Act  of  succession  ;  the  Irish  peerage  was 
to  be  reduced,  by  the  filling  of  one  vacancy  for  every 
three  deaths,  to  the  number  of  one  hundred ;  from 
among  these,  twenty-eight  representative  peers  were  to 
be  elected  for  life,  and  four  spiritual  lords  to  sit  in  sue- 


418 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


cession.  The  number  of  Irish  representatives  in  the 
Imperial  Parliament,  was  fixed  at  one  hundred  (increased 
to  one  hundred  and  five)  the  churches  of  England  and 
Ireland  were  united  like  the  kingdoms,  and  declared  to 
be  one  in  doctrine  and  discipline.  The  debt  of  Ireand 
which  was  less  than  4,000, 0002.  in  1797,  increased  to 
14,000,0002.  in  '99,  and  had  risen  to  nearly  17,000,0002. 
in  1801,  was  to  be  alone  chargeable  to  Ireland,  whose 
proportionate  share  of  general  taxation  was  then  esti- 
mated at  2- 17th  of  that  of  the  United  Kingdom.  The 
courts  of  law,  the  privy  Council,  and  the  viceroyalty, 
were  to  remain  at  Dublin. 

On  Jauuary  1,  1801,  in  accordance  with  this  great 
constitutional  change,  a  new  imperial  standard  was  run 
up  on  London  Tower,  Edinburgh  castle,  and  Dublin 
castle.  It  was  formed  of  the  three  crosses  of  St.  Patrick, 
St.  Andrew,  and  St.  George,  and  is  that  popularly  known 
to  us  as  "  the  union  jack."  The  fleur  de  lis  and  the 
word  "France,"  were  struck  from  the  royal  title,  which 
was  settled  by  proclamation  to  consist  henceforth  of  the 
words  Dei  Gratia,  Britanniarum  Bex,  Fidei  Defensor. 


SIXTH,  OR  UNION  PERIOD. 


FROM  A.  D.  1800  TO  A.D.  1830. 


PRINCIPAL  EVENTS. 

DEPRESSION  OF  TRADE  IN  CONSEQUENCE  OP  THE  UNION  —  EVILS 
CAUSED  BY  PROTESTANT  ASCENDENCY  —  EMMET'S  ATTEMPT 
AND  FAILURE  —  OUTRAGES  OP  THE  ORANGEMEN  —  ATTEMPTS 
TO  INTRODUCE  THE  VETO  —  O'CONNELL  TAKES  THE  LEAD  — 
HIS  ELECTION  FOR  CLARE  —  CATHOLIC  EMANCIPATION. 

(419) 


IRELAND  SINCE  THE  UNION. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

A.D.  1800  TO  A.  D.  1870. 
IRELAND  SINCE  THE  UNION. 

Seventy  years  have  now  elapsed  since  the  Parlia- 
mentary Union  between  Great  Britain  and  Ireland.  The 
history  of  this  period  is  one  of  considerable  interest  and 
importance,  and  indications  are  not  wanted  that  a  future 
histographer  will  have  some  startling  events  to  record. 
The  year  after  the  union  was  one  of  general  disasters, 
caused  partly  by  the  failure  of  crops,  and  partly  by 
heavily  increased  taxation,  and  a  great  falling  off  in 
trade.  The  Catholics,  too,  were  much  disappointed  as 
the  promises  of  political  equality  which  had  been  made 
to  them,  in  order  to  induce  them  to  approve  the  Union, 
were  not  kept ;  and  the  evil  spirit  of  party  feeling  was 
strengthened  seriously  by  a  commemoration  of  the  battle 
of  Aughrim,  on  the  12th  of  July,  1802,  when  the  statue 
of  king  William,  in  College  Green,  was  decked  with  or- 
ange emblems. 

Meanwhile,  the  two  Emmets,  O'Connor,  and  other 
political  exiles,  were  planning  deliverance  for  Ireland  on  A 
the  continent,  and  Bobert  Emmet  had  interviews  both  with 
Napoleon  and  Talleyrand.  The  leading  patriots  on  the 
continent  hoped  for  war  between  France  and  England, 
and  looked  on  it  as  the  best  opportunity  for  accomplish- 
ing their  designs.  But  one  of  the  most  remarkable  men 
of  that,  or  any  age,  was  then  in  Ireland,  had  recently 
been  called  to  the  bar,  and  was  preparing  to  assist  his 
country  in  another,  and,  as  the  event  proved,  a  wiser 
manner.  Daniel  O'Connell  was  born  on  the  6th  of 
August,  1775,  the  very  year,  as  he  himself  writes  in  a 
letter  addressed  to  the  editor  of  the'  Evening  Post,  "the 
very  year  in  which  the  stupid  obstinacy  of  British 


422 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


oppression  forced  the  reluctant  people  of  America  to 
seek  security  in  arms,  and  to  commence  that  bloody 
struggle  for  national  independence,  that  has  been  in  its 
results  beneficial  to  England,  whilst  it  has  shed  glory 
and  conferred  liberty,  pure  and  sublime,  upon  America.,? 

The  English  government  was  quite  aware  of  the  state 
of  Irish  feeling.  The  French  captured  an  East  Indiaman 
in  which  letters  were  found  addressed  by  lord  Charles 
Bentinck  to  his  brother,  Sir  William  Bentinck,  governor 
of  Madras.  In  one  of  these,  the  following  sentence 
occurs  :  —  "If  Ireland  be  not  attended  to,  it  will  be  lost ; 
these  rascals  (a  polite  appellation  for  the  Irish)  are  as 
ripe  as  ever  for  rebellion."  Certainly  the  government 
of  Ireland  since  the  union,  and  the  base  manner  in  which 
Catholics  had  been  betrayed,  could  not  have  tended  much 
to  increase  affection  for  English  rule. 

Emmet  arrived  in  Dublin  during  the  month  of  October, 
1802,  and  at  once  put  himself  in  communication  with 
those  who  hoped  to  obtain  redress  by  force  of  arms. 
There  were  still  many  of  the  old  United  Irishmen  of  '98 
who  wanted  to  make  another  effort  for  freedom,  and, 
unhappily  for  themselves,  were  not  deterred  by  former 
failures.  Emmet's  plan  was  certainly  formed  with  con- 
siderable prudence  and  ability.  While  the  country  peo- 
ple were  being  organized  to  revolt,  preparations  were 
being  made  in  Dublin  to  seize  the  castle  by  a  sudden 
attack,  and  to  render  this  movement  the  general  signal 
for  rising.  But  the  conspirators  appear  to  have  over- 
looked the  absolute  certainty  that  thousands  of  English 
troops  would  be  poured  into  the  country  even  if  they 
succeeded,  and  that  Ireland  never  could  stand  alone 
against  such  an  organization.  Even  had  the  plans  suc- 
ceeded for  the  moment,  a  few  days'  triumph  would  have 
been  a  poor  compensation  for  months  of  civil  war,  in 
which  the  stronger  power  could  not  fail  to  come  off 
victoriously. 

The  23rd  of  July,  1803,  was  fixed  for  the  outbreak, 
and  though  a  warrant  for  Emmet's  apprehension  had 
been  in  the  hands  of  Sirr,  the  town  major,  since  1800, 
his  arrival  in  Ireland  appears  not  to  have  been  suspected, 
and  the  government  discredited,  or  appeared  to  dis- 
credit, the  reports  of  preparations  for  another  insur- 
rection.    Some  alarm  was  given  by  an  explosion  of 


emmet's  insurrection. 


423 


combustibles  which  took  place  about  ten  days  previous 
to  the  intended  rising ;  but,  as  everything  was  removed 
before  the  police  had  time  to  make  a  domiciliary  visit, 
it  was  supposed  to  have  been  connected  with  a  chemical 
manufactory,  and  suspicion  was  still  further  averted. 
After  the  explosion  in  Patrick  street,  Emmec  removed  to 
the  depot  in  Marshalsea  Lane ;  but  confusion,  the  result 
of  treachery,  prevailed  amongst  his  associates  —  still,  it 
never  occurred  to  him  that  he  was  betrayed. 

All  his  plans  were  frustrated  by  some  apparent  acci- 
dent, and  even  the  mass  of  the  people  who  more  than 
suspected  his  design,  held  aloof  from  it  and  from  him ; 
their  recollection  of  the  sufferings  which  followed  the  far 
more  important  rebellion  of  ;98,  gave  them  grave  and 
well  founded  apprehensions  of  the  probable  consequences 
of  a  similar  attempt.  The  proposed  arrangement  was 
to  secure  the  Castle,  Pigeon  House,  Island  Bridge,  and 
Koyal  Barracks, —  an  arrangement  very  easily  planned 
on  paper,  but  very  difficult  to  execute,  even  if  the  insur- 
gents had  been  masters  of  efficient  force  to  effect  it  with 
any  probability  of  success. 

Before  the  fatal  day,  however,  it  was  apparent,  even 
to  the  most  sanguine,  that  the  attempt  was  hopeless, 
and  the  various  conspirators  met  on  the  evening  of  the 
23rd  to  consult  on  their  future  movements.  It  seems 
litte  short  of  a  fatuity  that  they  did  not  at  once  agree  to 
postpone  the  attempt,  if  not  to  relinquish  it  altogether. 
Treachery  was  at  work  on  every  side.  Great  help  had 
been  expected  from  a  man  named  Dwyer,  who  had  been 
actively  and  prominently  engaged  in  the  rebellion  of 
?98.  He  had  concealed  himself  in  the  Wicklow  moun- 
tains, and  had  escaped*  detection  and  capture  through 
his  personal  bravery  and  admirable  intelligence.  He  was 
expected  to  join  the  rising  now  ;  but  tne  person  who 
was  sent  to  him  by  Emmet  proved  a  traitor,  and  never 
delivered  the  message.  The  Kildare  men  came  in,  but 
were  sent  back  by  a  traitor  also.  The  Wexford  contin- 
gent arrived,  but  either  through  neglect  or  treachery 
they  remained  inactive.  Other  bodies  of  men  were  also 
prepared  to  act,  but  did  not  receive  the  preconcerted 
signal. 

The  result  was,  that  Emmet  had  not  a  hundred  men 
under  his  command  when  the  moment  for  action  arrived, 


424 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


and  a  considerable  number  of  them  were  intoxicated. 
A  more  unfortunate  attempt  could  scarcely  have  been 
made,  and  it  ended,  as  might  have  been  expected,  in 
the  flight  of  Emmet  and  the  dispersion  of  the  band. 
Unhappily,  however,  before  this  took  place,  lord  Kil- 
warden  was  murdered.  He  was  a  man  of  humane  dispo- 
sition, and  respected  by  all  parties  ;  but,  unfortunately, 
he  was  mistaken  for  another  person,  if,  indeed  his  mur- 
derers were  sufficiently  sober  to  make  distinctions. 

In  an  hour  the  whole  affair  was  over,  as  far  as  resist- 
ance was  concerned,  but  it  was  followed  by  a  number 
of  arrests,  and  the  discovery  of  quantities  of  firearms, 
pikes,  and  uniforms.  Emmet  fled  to  Wicklow.  He 
might  have  escaped  even  then,  but  his  anxiety  to  see 
Miss  Sarah  Curran,  to  whom  he  was  engaged  to  be  mar- 
ried, proved  fatal  to  his  safety.  He  was  arrested  on  the 
25th  of  August,  and  on  the  31st  of  August,  1803,  he  was 
tried  by  a  special  commission,  and  was,  of  course,  found 
guilty.  He  did  not,  indeed,  attempt  any  defence,  and 
the  attacks  made  upon  him  by  the  king's  council,  Mr. 
Plunkett,  were  both  unmanly  and  unnecessary.  Emmet 
was  executed  September  1,  and,  for  the  time,  all  attempts 
at  resistance  were  entirely  crushed  down.  Twenty  per- 
sons were  tried  with  Emmet  at  the  special  commission, 
and  of  these  eighteen  were  hung.  The  Habeas  Corpus 
was  suspended,  and  martial  law  proclaimed  in  several 
districts,  while  a  considerable  number  of  persons  were 
thrown  into  jail  on  suspicion.  Still,  with  what  seemed 
little  short  of  madness,  since  success  was  certainly  hope- 
less, attempts  were  continued,  on  the  continent  at  least, 
to  prepare  for  another  rising.  An  Irish  Legion  was 
formed  out  of  the  vast  numbers  of  Irish  exiles  in  France, 
and  Napoleon  gave  some  real  or  pretended  encourage- 
ment to  the  projects.  Myles  Byrne  was  amongst  the 
number  of  the  officers,  and  we  find  also  the  still  more 
noticeable  name  of  MacMahon.  The  Legion  first  assem- 
bled at  Morlaix,  a  seaport  town  in  Bretagne,  but  was 
subsequently  removed  several  times.  But  before  any- 
thing more  than  preparations  could  be  effected,  other 
work  was  found  for  the  French  arms. 

The  Legion  was  ordered  to  Walcheren,  and  there  had 
the  satisfaction  of  fighting  against  England,  though  on 
foreign  ground. 


THE  CATHOLICS  PETITION  FOR  EMANCIPATION.  425 


In  the  meantime,  Ireland  was  not  prospering  under 
the  new  arrangements.  The  nobility  who  had  occupied 
stately  mansions  in  Dublin,  and  had  given,  at  least,  some 
impetus  to  trade,  now  found  it  pleasanter  to  live  in 
England  or  abroad.  Thus  Ireland  was  impoverished 
doubly,  since  while  large  rents  were  drawn  out  of  the 
country  the  money  once  spent  therein  now  flowed  into 
other  channels.  The  exports,  it  is  true,  increased,  but 
they  increased  to  the  national  disadvantage,  as  they 
sent  from  the  country  its  agricultural  produce,  without 
receiving  any  adequate  compensation  in  return. 

The  Catholic  party  now  began  to  hold  meetings  in 
Dublin  to  inquire  why  Emancipation  had  not  followed 
the  union,  according  to  the  professions  made  to  them 
by  Mr.  Pitt  and  Lord  Cornwallis.  But  they  had  little 
influence,  and  were  easily  silenced.  A  far  more  power- 
ful, though  very  much  less  numerous  body,  had  already 
been  dealt  with,  but  in  a  very  different  manner.  Eng- 
lish opinion,  always  Protestant,  then,  at  least,  rather 
applauded  than  condemned  treachery  to  Catholics ;  but 
the  Presbyterians  had  the  immense  advantage  of  Eng- 
lish sympathy  and  support.  The  Ulster  Presbyterians 
had  been  inclined  to  join  the  patriotic  party,  and  some 
had,  indeed,  actually  done  so.  This  at  once  showed  that 
the  Catholics  were  not  discontented  merely  because  they 
were  Catholics,  and  every  Presbyterian  that  joined  the 
national  party  was  an  immense  moral  accession  of 
strength.  But  the  Presbyterians  were  easily  made  loyal. 
The  Begnum  Donum,  originally  granted  to  them  for  much 
the  same  purpose  by  Charles  II.,  was  now  largely  in- 
creased, and  the  scheme  proved  eminently  successful. 

The  Catholics  presented  their  petition,  a  deputation 
having  waited  on  Mr.  Pitt  personally,  but  Mr.  Pitt 
declined  to  have  anything  to  say  to  the  affair,  with  won- 
derful expressions  of  politeness.  Mr.  Pox  and  lord 
Grenville  were  next  solicited,  and  agreed  to  present  the 
petition.  But  all  the  old  No-Popery  outcry  was  raised 
again,  and  the  same  utter  ignorance  of  Catholic  princi- 
ples and  feelings  displayed  as  —  we  had  almost  said  — 
in  the  present  day.  In  truth,  mutatis  mutandis,  some 
of  the  speeches  made  on  this  occasion  would  have  an- 
swered admirably  for  recent  debates  on  the  disestablish- 
ment of  the  Irish  Church,  and  the  question  of  Catholic 


426 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


Education.  The  arguments,  if  arguments  they  could  be 
called,  were  these  :  — the  Church  and  State  would  be 
endangered,  the  king's  coronation  oath  would  be  vio- 
lated, the  Catholics  would  demand  their  long-forfeited 
estates. 

Last,  but  not  least,  lord  Redesdale,  by  a  wonderful 
effort  of  intuition  not  unknown  in  our  own  day,  declared 
that  the  Catholic  body  would  be  "extremely  grateful  " 
if  the  Catholic  hierarchy  were  abolished :  a  statement 
that  a  Catholic  child  would  have  laughed  to  scorn.  In 
the  lower  house  (Commons)  the  climax  of  absurdity, 
ignorance,  and  consequent  misstatement  was  made  by 
Doctor  Duigenan,  who  took  it  upon  him  to  reply  to  Mr. 
Fox.  This  worthy  retailed  at  length  each  and  all  the 
often-refuted  calumnies  against  Catholics.  It  did  not 
in  the  least  matter  to  him,  or,  indeed,  to  the  majority  of 
his  auditors,  that  they  had  been  refuted,  and  that  they 
were  false,  since  they  answered  the  present  purpose. 
He  also  was  liberal  in  his  statements  of  what  the  Cath- 
olic laity  thought,  as  well  as  of  what  the  Catholic  laity 
wished,  and  made  the  not  unusual  mistake  of  fanatics  in 
supposing  that  he  knew  a  great  deal  more  about  the 
religion  which  he  was  pleased  to  condemn  than  those 
who  practised  it.  He  also  declared  that  the  Catholic 
laity  did  not  really  wish  for  the  emancipation  for  which 
they  asked,  though  they  signed  the  petition,  and  that 
the  clergy  did  not  sign  it  for  precisly  the  same  reason. 

No  wonder,  then,  that  Mr.  Grattan  arose,  and,  for  the 
first  time,  electrified  the  British  Parliament  by  his  elo- 
quence, and,  at  least,  attempted  to  enlighten  it  by  his 
wisdom.  The  exordium  of  his  speech  was  masterly,  the 
peroration  sublime.  In  rising,  he  said  he  wished  to 
defend  the  Catholics  against  Doctor  Duigenan's  attacks, 
and  the  Protestants  from  his  defence.  He  dwelt  strongly 
on  the  strangely  overlooked  fact  that  the  Roman  Cath- 
olic faith  is  the  religion  of  the  vast  majority  of  Chris- 
tians. But,  in  conclusion,  he  used  the  argument  most 
likely  to  command  the  attention  of  his  hearers,  by  show- 
ing the  suicidal  folly  of  denying  Irishmen  the  rights  of 
religion  because  they  were  Catholics,  and  pointed  out 
the  inevitable  result  in  case  any  foreign  invasion  of  Eng- 
land should  be  attempted.  The  speaker  took  the  argu- 
mentum,  ad  hominum  line  also,  and  compared  the  oppo- 


THE  TRIAL  OF  JUDGE  JOHNSON. 


427 


sition  to  grown  up  children  influenced  only  by  old  preju- 
dices, and  preferring  to  secure  foreign  allies  by  subsi- 
dies, instead  of  subsidizing  fellow-citizens  by  privileges. 
He  might,  indeed,  with  more  correctness  have  said,  by 
granting  fellow-citizens  rights ;  bat  Protestantism  was 
certainly  not  then  sufficiently  large-minded  to  allow  it 
to  bear  even  the  idea  that  a  Catholic  could  have  any 
right,  social  or  political.  The  bill  was,  of  course,  re- 
jected, but  it  was,  at  least,  a  step  in  the  right  direction 
to  have  it  brought  forward  at  all. 

The  trial  of  Judge  Johnson,  which  took  place  soon 
after,  showed  how  necessary  it  was  that  some  legal  pro- 
tection should  be  afforded  to  the  unfortunate  Catholics. 
This  gentleman,  with  a  humanity  which  did  him  the 
highest  credit,  and  a  boldness  for  which  he  deserves  the 
highest  praise,  had  actually  fined  lord  Enniskillen  for 
refusing  to  appear  in  court,  to  answer  the  grave  charge 
of  having  committed  two  prisoners  to  jail  without  any 
offence  having  been  alleged  against  them,  and  one  of 
these  unfortunates  was  specially  condemned  to  solitary 
confinement.  But  the  attempt  to  administer  the  com- 
monest justice  was  severely  punished,  and  the  judge 
was  eventually  tried  by  the  house  of  lords  for  fulfilling 
the  functions  of  the  office  to  which  he  had  been  ap- 
pointed :  a  ghastly  commentary  on  the  state  of  English 
government  in  Ireland.  Lord  Abercorn  was  the  leader 
of  the  persecution,  for  it  deserves  no  other  name,  and  he, 
as  might  be  expected,  was  the  great  supporter  of  the 
Orange  society  in  Ulster. 

The  veto  was  now  suggested.  The  object  of  this  was 
to  allow  the  crown  a  passive  voice,  if  not  an  active  one, 
in  the  nomination  of  Catholic  bishops.  Happily  for  the 
Catholic  Church  in  Ireland,  the  proposal  was  steadily 
rejected,  though  with  a  determination  which  brought 
even  members  of  the  same  church  into  collision.  Con- 
nection with  the  State  might  have  procured  temporal 
advantages,  but  they  would  have,  in  truth,  a  poor  com- 
pensation for  the  loss  of  that  perfect  freedom  so  essen- 
tial to  the  spiritual  advancement  of  the  Church. 

Pitt  died  on  the  23rd  of  January,  1806,  broken-hearted, 
by  the  failure  of  his  continental  schemes,  and  thev suc- 
cesses of  the  first  Napoleon.  The  reins  of  government 
now  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  Grenville-Fox  ministry, 


428 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


and  Mr.  Fox  repudiated  the  manner  in  which  the  union 
was  effected  in  emphatic  words,  which  he  reiterated  when 
called  upon  for  explanation.  He  took  care,  however, 
to  fence  himself  in  very  cleverly  from  future  attacks, 
by  stating  that  no  attempt  should  be  made  to  repeal  the 
union,  without  the  most  urgent  solicitation  from  those 
most  interested  in  the  matter.  It  is  more  than  probable 
that  Mr.  Fox  had  the  fear  of  foreign  invasion  very 
strongly  before  his  eyes  when  he  made  his  statement, 
and  the  fear  of  English  conservatives  very  strongly 
before  his  mind  when  he  made  his  qualifications.  He 
knew  even  the  least  hope  of  repeal  would  insure  him  the 
support  of  the  Irish  when  their  strong  arms  might  be 
needed  to  protect  English  shores,  and  he  knew  also  that 
his  position  in  the  English  government  depended  upon 
his  not  adopting  anything  like  a  conciliatory  policy  in 
Ireland. 

The  Duke  of  Bedford  came  to  Ireland  as  viceroy  in 
1806.  and  was  presented  with  loyal  addresses  by  the 
Catholics.  These  he  answered  evasively,  and  during  his 
government,  though  it  was  supposed  to  be  liberal,  the 
tithe  system  continued  in  full  force,  and  the  usual  exe- 
cutions and  punishments  of  those  who  rebelled  against  it 
were  continued. 

The  Duke  of  Richmond  succeeded  the  Duke  of  Bed- 
ford and  came  to  Ireland  in  1807,  attended  by  Sir  Arthur 
Wellesley,  as  chief  secretary.  The  young  man,  whose 
fame  was  yet  unattained,  showed  himself  as  clear-headed 
in  the  cabinet  as  in  the  camp.  He  made  some  attempts 
to  suppress  the  party  demonstrations  which  have  been 
the  curse  of  Ireland,  and  induced  the  Wexford  people 
to  discontinue  their  annual  celebration  of  the  battle  of 
Vinegar  Hill.  If  he  had  suppressed  a  few  other  anni- 
versaries in  the  north  it  would  have  been  a  blessing  to 
the  United  Kingdom.  In  1806  Mr.  Grattan  was  returned 
for  Dublin,  and  generously  refused  the  sum  of  4,000Z., 
which  his  constituents  had  collected  to  pay  his  expenses. 
The  Catholic  question  was  now  constantly  coming  up, 
and  more  than  one  cabinet  was  formed  and  dissolved 
according,  to  the  views  of  the  different  members  on 
that  matter.  A  new  element  of  vitality  had  been  intro- 
duced by  the  relaxation  of  the  penal  laws.  Men  were  i:o 
longer  afraid  to  ask  for  a  grace  which  they  wanted,  lest 


MAYNOOTH  COLLEGE. 


429 


they  should  lose  a  grace  which  they  had.  The  people 
found  that  they  might  speak  their  real  opinions  without 
apprehensions  of  attempts  at  conversion,  in  the  shape  of 
pitch-caps  and  half-hangings ;  and  when  the  nation  was 
ready  for  a  leader,  the  leader  was  ready  for  the  nation  ; 
and  Daniel  O'Connell  took  the  place  in  the  guidance  of 
the  Irish  people,  which  he  will  never  lose  in  their  memory 
and  in  their  affections. 

The  Catholic  college  of  Maynooth  had  been  incorpo- 
rated by  law  in  June,  1795  ;  students  were  admitted  in 
October,  and  for  the  first  time  the  priesthood  of  Ireland 
could  be  educated  in  their  own  country  without  incur- 
ring the  penalty  of  transportation  or  death.  But  the 
object  of  government  was  transparent,  and  the  fluctua- 
tions of  the  amount  granted  year  by  year,  formed  an 
excellent  and  unerring  moral  thermometer  by  which  the 
heat  of  English  indignation  against  Papacy  could  be  regis- 
tered, or,  rather,  of  the  degree  in  which  it  could  be  safely 
indulged.  The  duke  of  Richmond  proposed  the  curtail- 
ment of  the  grant,  and  was  noisily,  if  not  efficiently 
seconded  by  the  famous  Doctor  Duigenan,  who  seems  to 
have  served  as  a  prototype  for  a  member  of  the  British  | 
Parliament  in  our  own  day.  The  real  and  sole  object  of 
the  English  government  in  subsidizing  Maynooth  was, 
of  two  evils  to  choose  the  least.  It  was.  plain  that  the 
Irish  would  not  apostatize  ;  it  was  equally  plain  that  they 
would  have  priests,  and  that  if  they  were  not  educated 
at  home  they  would  be  educated  abroad.  Foreign  edu- 
cation could  not  tend  to  increase  their  affection  for  Eng- 
lish rule,  and  hence  the  few  members  of  Parliament  who 
were  not  absolutely  incapacitated  for  ordinary  reasoning 
by  a  No-Papacy  idiosyncrasy,  preferred  making  arrange- 
ments for  the  education  of  the  priesthood  in  Ireland,  even 
at  the  national  cost. 

Such  a  change  of  opinion,  or,  perhaps,  it  would  be 
more  correct  to  say  of  practice,  was,  undoubtedly,  one 
of  the  greatest,  if  not  the  very  greatest  moral  triumph 
ever  obtained  by  any  people.  The  priest,  who  had  for- 
merly been  hunted  and  hung  by  the  English  law,  was 
now  housed,  and  taught  the  very  religion  for  which  he 
had  been  persecuted,  at  the  expense  of  his  former  per- 
secutors. A  new  danger,  however,  arose,  and,  perhaps, 
the  greatest  danger  which  Irish  faith  had  to  endure. 


430 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


The  Veto  question  was  revived.  The  Irish  people  had 
always  been  led  politically,  as  well  as  religiously,  by 
their  priests  ;  it  could  not,  indeed,  be  otherwise,  since, 
in  Ireland,  politics  and  religion  were  inseparable.  The 
government  found  all  attempts  to  influence  the  people 
utterly  futile :  they  therefore  made  a  bold  effort  to  ob- 
tain control,  indirectly,  over  the  clergy.  But  even  an 
honest  Protestant  like  Edmund  Burke  could  foresee  the 
fatal  consequences  which  must  ensue  if  this  scheme  suc- 
ceeded, and  he  wrote  thus  to  Dr.  Hussey,  the  Catholic 
bishop  of  Waterford  :  "  If  you  (the  Catholic  bishops) 
have  not  wisdom  enough  to  make  common  cause,  they 
will  cut  you  off  one  by  one.  I  am  sure  that  the  con- 
stant meddling  of  your  bishops  and  clergy  with  the  castle, 
and  the  castle  with  them,  will  infallibly  set  them  ill  with 
their  own  body.  All  the  weight  which  the  clergy  have 
hitherto  had,  to  keep  the  people  quiet,  will  be  wholly  lost 
if  this  once  should  happen.  At  best,  you  will  have  a 
marked  schism,  and  more  than  one  kind;  and  I  am 
greatly  mistaken  if  this  is  not  intended,  and  diligently 
and  systematically  pursued. " 

The  Orangemen  still  continued  to  do  all  in  their  power 
to  excite  rebellion,  and  cause  misery  in  the  north.  It  has 
been  the  custom  in  Ireland,  from  time  immemorial,  to 
light  bonfires  on  the  23rd  of  June,  the  vigil  of  Saint  John 
the  Baptist.  There  can  be  no  doubt  of  the  pagan  origin 
of  this  practice,  and  it  probably  dates  back  several  thou- 
sand years.  The  pagan  intention  has  been  long  since 
forgotten,  and  it  has  become  a  harmless,  if  not  a  meaning- 
less pastime.  On  the  evening  of  the  23rd  of  June,  1808, 
a  number  of  people  had  lighted  a  bonfire  of  this  kind  at 
Corinshiga,  near  Newry,  in  the  county  Down.  While 
they  were  amusing  themselves  innocently,  and  utterly 
unprepared  for  danger,  a  party  of  yeoman  suddenly 
appeared,  and,  by  the  command  of  their  sergeant,  fired 
into  the  crowd,  several  times,  without  a  word  of  warning. 
One  man  was  killed,  others  were  grievously  wounded  ; 
but  when  the  Protestant  magistrates  of  Newry  attempted 
to  make  some  inquiry  into  this  scandalous  injustice,  the 
matter  was  at  once  hushed  up.  Had  a  similar,  or  even 
a  far  less  bloody  outrage  been  perpetrated  by  Catholics, 
not  only  the  guilty  individuals,  but  the  whole  country 
where  they  lived,  would  have  been  deluged  with  blood 


VICEROYALTY  OF  THE  DUKE  OF  BICHMOND.  431 

to  revenge  it.  As  this  is  but  a  sample  of  the  manner  in 
which  Ireland  was  governed  for  many  centuries,  even 
until  a  comparatively  recent  date,  it  can  be  no  matter  of 
surprise  that  Irishmen  of  the  third  and  fourth  genera- 
tions still  remember  this,  and  still  burn  with  indignation 
against  those  who  not  only  permitted  but  encouraged  it. 
The  Orange  societies  were,  however,  allowed,  and  even 
in  1809  were  renewed  and  strengthened.  In  1811 
O'Connell,  who  had  come  forward  prominently  as  the 
leading  man  amongst  the  Catholics,  proved  publicly  the 
action  of  the  Orange  society',  its  secret  oath,  and  enrol- 
ment of  members.  Government  took  very  active  meas- 
ures to  prevent,  or  to  prosecute,  if  formed,  every  Cath- 
olic association,  however  openly  carried  out ;  but  justice 
had  never  been  administered  in  Ireland,  and  a  gradual 
approach  towards  it  was  all  Catholics  could  hope  for. 

Indeed,  the  Orange  society  was  pre-eminently  neces- 
sary to  the  government  as  long  as  injustice  to  Catholics 
was  their  policy.  Hence,  when  a  futile  attempt  was 
made  by  the  duke  of  Richmond  to  discourage  Orange 
emblems,  at  least  amongst  the  yeomanry  of  the  north, 
some  five  hundred  men  of  that  notorious  body  flung 
away  their  arms  and  accoutrements  when  requested  by 
their  inspecting  officer,  lord  Bandon,  to  lay  aside  the 
orange  lilies  which  they  wore  conspicuously.  After  this 
exhibition,  the  government  took  good  care  not  to  inter- 
fere with  their  necessary  supporters. 

Still  the  duke  of  Richmond  was  supposed  to  be  a 
liberal  viceroy,  and,  at  all  events,  spoke  liberally  when 
occasion  served.  He  complimented  Catholic  bishops  in 
public ;  but,  at  the  same  time,  Catholic  soldiers  were 
severely  punished  if  they  refused  to  attend  the  Protes- 
tant service.  He  declined  drinking  the  usual  toast  of 
the  Protestant  Ascendency  of  Ireland;  but  Catholic  mer- 
chants in  Dublin  were  sedulously  excluded  from  the 
position  of  bank  directors  on  account  of  their  religion. 

The  assassination  of  Mr.  Percival,  in  1812,  involved  a 
change  of  ministry,  but  it  was  as  little  beneficial  to  Ire- 
land as  the  regency  of  the  prince  of  Wales,  from  which 
so  much  had  been  expected. 

In  1813  Mr.  G  rattan  introduced  a  bill  to  ameliorate  the 
condition  t>f  Catholics,  which  was,  of  course,  withdrawn, 
although  an  amendment  was  proposed  striking  out  the 


432 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


clause  to  enable  Catholics  to  vote,  or  sit  in  Parliament. 
The  Veto  question  was  again  brought  forward,  and  only 
silenced  at  last  by  the  determined  opposition  of  the  Irish 
Catholic  bishops.  The  English  Catholics,  unfortunately, 
who  were  always  indifferent  and  ill-informed  on  the  sub- 
ject of  Irish  politics,  were  strongly  in  favor  of  the  move- 
ment. They  have  to  thank  the  superior  wisdom  of  Irish 
prelates  for  saving  them  from  one  of  the  most  fatal  snares 
ever  planned  for  their  destruction. 

Continental  wars  for  a  time  absorbed  the  attention  of 
Europe.  Ireland  was  forgotten,  or,  at  least,  her  cries 
could  not  be  heard  amidst  the  roar  of  cannon,  and  the 
shrieks  of  carnage.  The  life-blood  of  thousands  of  Irish- 
men and  faithful  Catholics  reddened  the  plains  of  Water- 
loo ;  an  Irishman  commanded  the  victorious  army,  but 
Ireland  obtained  nothing  in  return. 

J^Ir.  Peel,  whose  name  was  soon  to  become  famous, 
had  already  provided  Ireland  with  a  police  force,  which 
still,  popularly,  at  least,  bears  his  name.  He  had  be- 
stowed another  favor  upon  the  country  by  introducing  the 
ejectment  laws,  which  have  since  proved  the  source  of 
an  amount  of  crime  and  wretchedness  which  cannot  by 
any  possibility  be  calculated  in  this  world.  His  first 
attempt  was  made  in  1815,  by  enabling  the  assistant 
barrister  at  sessions  to  issue  a  decree  of  ejectment  on  the 
owners  of  holdings,  the  rent  of  which  was  under  20Z. 
The  ejectment  was  further  facilitated,  two  years  after, 
by  allowing  the  evidence  of  the  landlord  or  agent  to  be 
taken  as  to  the  non-payment  of  the  rent. 

Shiel  has  left  it  on  record  that  the  hopes  of  the  Cath- 
olics fell  with  the  peace.  England  no  longer  required 
the  services  of  Catholic  soldiers,  or  feared  the  rising  of 
Irish  patriots  ;  why,  then,  should  she  trouble  herself  to 
conciliate  either.  The  Catholic  Board  was  at  once  put 
,  down  ;  but  there  was  an  irrepressible  ma  nin  Ireland  who 
could  not  be  put  down,  and  who,  by  sheer  force  of  will, 
superiority  of  intellect,  and  straightforwardness  of  pur- 
pose, accomplished  what  no  rising,  however  effective, 
nor  petition,  however  eloquent,  could  effect.  He  had 
studied  the  law  carefully,  and  had  the  clearest  possible 
ideas  of  what  he  could  and  could  not  do.  He  took  care 
to  go  to  the  verge  of  what  the  law  called  sedition,  but 
he  never  passed  the  line;  and  bewildered  governments 


IRISH  DISTURBANCES.  433 

heard  with  dismay  how  this  audacious  man  actually  ex- 
posed the  iniquity  of  the  laws  of  the  land,  while  he  spoke 
under  cover  of  the  law,  to  a  jury  of  his  countrymen.  His 
epithets  were  not  choice,  but  they  were  unquestionably 
well  chosen  for  his  purpose.  His  language  was  not 
particular,  but  it  was  always  exactly  suited  to  his  ob- 
ject. He  distinguished  Mr.  D'Israeli  as  the  descendant 
of  the  impenitent  thief,  and  the  appellation  is  still  remem- 
bered. He  called  the  Dublin  corporation  "beggarly," 
and  one  of  its  most  needy  members,  Mr.  D'Esterre,  took 
the  epithet  to  himself,  called  out  O'Connell,  and  had, 
at  least,  the  satisfaction  of  immortalizing  himself  by 
meeting  his  death  at  the  hands  of  the  most  famous  man 
of  the  age. 

From  the  year  1815  to  1817  the  conduct  of  the  English 
Parliament  towards  Ireland  was  regulated  with  the 
nicest  attention  to  the  movements  of  the  General  who 
ruled  the  continent.  In  181 Y  an  act  was  passed,  which, 
with  admirable  policy,  excused  Catholic  officers,  naval 
and  military,  from  forswearing  transubstantiation.  In 
J.821  George  IV.  visited  Ireland.  It  was  the  first 
time  that  an  English  king  had  come  to  Ireland  as  the 
acknowledged  sovereign  of  the  people.  Their  hopes 
were  high ;  and  the  deference  for  royalty,  so  eminently 
characteristic  of  the  Celt,  had  at  last  found  an  opportu- 
nity of  expressing  itself.  All  that  loyalty  could  do  was 
done ;  all  that  the  warmest  heart  could  say  was  said. 
The  king  appeared  impressed  by  demonstrations  so 
entirely  new  to  him ;  he  wore  a  large  bunch  of  sham- 
rocks constantly  during  his  brief  stay  ;  but,  before  the 
shamrocks  were  faded,  Irish  wants  and  Irish  loyalty 
were  alike  forgotten. 

In  the  year  1824  the  subject  of  Irish  disturbances  was 
carefully  inquired  into  by  select  committees  of  both 
houses  of  Parliament.  Some  extracts  from  their  reports 
will  give  the  best  and  most  correct  idea  of  the  state 
of  the  country  from  the  Union  to  the  year  1834,  when 
another  investigation  was  made.  In  1807  the  county 
Limerick  was  alarmingly  disturbed.  In  1812  the  coun- 
ties of  Tipperary,  Waterford,  Kilkenny,  Limerick,  West- 
meath,  Roscommon,  and  the  King's  county,  were  the 
theatres  of  the  same  sanguinary  tumults.  Limerick  and 
Tipperary  remained  under  the  Insurrection  Act  until 
19 


434 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


1818.  In  1820  there  were  serious  disturbances  in  Gal- 
way,  and  in  1821  in  Limerick. 

These  disturbances  are  thus  accounted  for  by  Maxwell 
Blacker,  Esq.,  Barrister,  who  was  appointed  to  adminis- 
ter the  Insurrection  Act,  in  1822,  in  the  counties  of  Cork 
<]  and  Tipperary  :  "  The  immediate  cause  of  the  disturb- 
ance I  consider  to  be  the  great  increase  of  the  popula- 
tion, and  the  fall  in  the  price  of  produce  after  the  war; 
the  consequence  of  which  was,  that  it  was  impossible 
to  pay  the  rent  or  the  tithes  that  had  been  paid  when  the 
country  was  prosperous."  Sir  Matthew  Barrington, 
Crown  Solicitor  of  the  Munster  circuit  for  seventeen 
years,  was  asked:  "Do  you  attribute  the  inflammable 
state  of  the  population  to  the  state  of  misery  in  which 
they  generally  are  ?  "  "I  do  to  a  great  extent;  I  seldom 
knew  any  instance  when  there  was  sufficient  employment 
for  the  people  that  they  were  inclined  to  be  disturbed  ; 
if  they  had  plenty  of  work  and  employment,  they  are 
generally  peaceable."  John  Leslie  Foster,  Esq.,  M.  P., 
in  his  examination,  states :  "  I  think  the  proximate 
cause  (of  the  disturbances)  is  the  extreme  physical  mis- 
ery of  the  peasantry,  coupled  with  their  liability  to  be 
called  upon  for  the  payment  of  different  charges,  which 
j  it  is  often  perfectly  impossible  for  them  to  meet."  Mat- 
thew Singleton,  Esq.,  Chief  Magistrate  of  Police  in  the 
Queen's  county,  said,  on  his  examination:  "I  have 
seen  and  I  know  land  to  be  set  one-third  above  its 
value." 

It  would  be  useless  to  give  more  of  this  evidence,  for 
the  details  are  always  the  same.  The  people  were 
almost  starving.  They  could  scarcely  get  a  sufficiency 
of  the  poorest  food,  yet  they  were  compelled  to  pay  rent 
and  tithes  far  above  the  value  of  their  land.  If  they 
were  unable,  they  were  thrown  out  upon  the  wayside  to 
die  like  dogs. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  outrages  thus  perpe- 
trated were  very  fearful.  Every  man's  hand  was  against 
them,  and  their  hand  was  against  every  man.  They 
shot  their  landlords,  and  they  H  carded  "  the  tithe-proc- 
tors. Gentlemen's  houses  were  barricaded,  even  in  the 
day-time.  Many  families  of  the  higher  classes  lived  in 
a  state  of  siege.  The  windows  were  made  bullet-proof; 
the  doors  were  never  opened  after  nightfall.    It  was  a 


FORMATION  OF  THE  CATHOLIC  ASSOCIATION.  435 

fearful  state  of  society  for  a  Christian  country,  and  the 
guilt  and  disgrace  of  it  was  surely  on  those  who  had 
caused  it.  Yet  we  do  not  find  that  the  knowledge  of 
these  facts  produced  any  effect  upon  the  men  who  heard 
them,  and  who  alone  had  it  in  their  power  to  apply  the 
remedy. 

In  the  year  1822,  Ireland  was  desolated  by  a  famine, 
or,  at  least,  the  poverty  of  the  people  was  so  great  that 
they  could  not  purchase  even  the  food  absolutely  neces- 
sary to  support  life.  That  such  a  state  of  things  should 
exist  at  any  time,  under  any  circumstances,  is  a  clear 
evidence  of  serious  misgovernment,  for,  assuredly,  no 
government  can  be  called  good  which  does  not  enable 
the  governed  to  procure  the  common  necessaries  of  life. 
Even  when  the  famine  was  at  its  height,  one  million 
quarters  of  grain  were  exported  to  England,  with  thou- 
sands of  heads  of  cattle,  sheep  and  swine. 

The  viceroyalty  of  the  marquis  of  Wellesley  will  long 
be  remembered  in  Ireland,  by  a  nation  ever  grateful  for 
even  the  least  consideration.  But  the  common  courtesy 
shown  to  Catholics  by  this  nobleman,  and  the  justice  of 
his  administration,  was  intolerable  to  the  Orange  faction. 
SirHarcourt  Lees,  a  Protestant  clergyman,  who  suffered 
from  a  monomania  on  the  subject  of  Popery,  excited  this 
turbulent  party  still  more.  On  the  14th  of  December, 
their  rage  found  expression  in  an  absurd  and  petty 
attack  on  the  marquis.  They  created  a  riot  in  the  the- 
atre, and  flung  a  bottle  at  the  viceregal  box,  which, 
however,  happily  fell  short  of  its  occupant,  at  whom  it 
was  aimed.  The  rioters  were  Orangemen,  and  so  were 
the  grand  jury  of  Dublin,  who,  as  usual  under  such  cir- 
cumstances, refused  to  find  a  bill  against  the  perpetrators. 
The  attorney-general,  Mr.  Plunkett,  sent  them  up  for 
trial,  but  the  jury  refused  to  convict. 

The  Catholic  Association  was  formed  in  the  year  1823, 
by  Mr.  O'Connell  and  Mr.  Shiel,  a  young  barrister  who 
had  already  distinguished  himself  by  his  eloquence.  The 
beginning  certainly  gave  little  promise  of  the  success 
subsequently  attained.  The  Catholic  nobility  were  slow 
to  offer  any  support,  having  always  the  fear  of  losing 
the  little  that  they  had  gained  ;  but  after  a  time,  lord  Kil-  < 
leen,  lord  Gormanstown  and  several  others  gave  in  their 
sanction  to  the  movement.    An  infinitely  more  powerful 


436 


COMPENDIUM  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


auxiliary,  however,  was  found  in  the  person  of  the  cel- 
ebrated Dr.  Doyle,  the  Catholic  bishop  of  Kildare  and 
Leighlin.  This  prelate  was  famous  in  his  own  day,  and 
will  be  handed  down  as  famous  to  posterity,  while  his 
pamphlets  and  letters  remain  to  show  how  his  heart  and 
soul  was  devoted  to  the  cause  of  Irish  independence. 

At  first,  the  members  of  the  association  paid  a  guinea 
a  year,  the  associates  a  shilling.  Weekly  meetings  were 
held  to  report  progress  and  arrange  plans.  But  the  fol- 
lowing year  the  government  was  startled  to  find  a  new 
plan  in  operation,  and  learned,  to  their  dismay,  that  the 
penny  subscription  to  the  "  Catholic  Rent n  amounted 
to  500Z.  a  week,  and  the  enrolled  associates  numbered 
somewhere  about  half  a  million. 

When  the  association  was  well  established,  and  it  was 
quite  evident  that  it  must  succeed  if  the  master  mind  who 
originated  it  was  spared  to  guide  it,  the  English  Cath- 
olics gave  it  their  support ;  but,  at  the  same  time,  the 
northern  Presbyterians  joined  it  also,  and  their  adhe- 
sion was  of  unquestionable  value.  The  great  object  was 
Catholic  Emancipation,  and  Catholic  Emancipation  was 
obtained.  If  we  have  a  Catholic  lord  chancellor,  Cath- 
olic judges,  and  Catholic  members  of  Parliament  at  the 
present  day,  let  it  not  be  forgotten  that  we  owe  it,  under 
the  Divine  favor,  to  O'Connell  and  the  pence  of  the  Irish 
poor.  A  host  of  writers,  both  English  and  Irish,  gave 
their  assistance.  Sidney  Smith's  most  brilliant  witti- 
cisms were  made  on  the  subject  of  English  bigotry. 
Moore's  most  witty  verses  were  founded  on  the  same 
theme. 

But  the  English  government  were  very  clearly  aware 
of  the  state  of  affairs.  In  1825  the  secretary  for  Ireland, 
Mr.  Goulburn,  brought  in  a  bill  for  the  "Suppression  of 
Unlawful  Associations  in  Ireland."  They  had  yet  to 
learn  the  resources  of  the  man  with  whom  they  to  deal. 
It  was  the  easiest  thing  possible  to  put  down  a  rebellion 
by  force  of  arms ;  but  to  put  down  a  single  man,  when 
that  man  happened  to  be  O'Connell,  was  quite  another 
affair.  He  at  once  dissolved  the  Association,  and  then 
quietly  re-established  it  under  another  name.  As  it 
became  now  tolerably  evident  that  something  must  be 
done  for  Ireland,  a  bill  was  prepared  to  admit  Catholics 
to  Parliament  and  Corporation,  but  it  was  qualified  by 


THE  EMANCIPATION  AGITATION. 


437 


taking  away  the  franchise  from  the  forty  shilling  free- 
holders, and  by  subsidizing  the  Catholic  clergy.  The 
'  bill  was  prepared  by  Sir  Robert  Peel,  and  it  was  worthy 
of  his  statesmanship.  It  was  clear  that  if  the  forty 
shilling  freeholders  were  disfranchised,  there  would  be 
very  few  Catholic  voters,  and  consequently  very  few 
Catholic  members  ;  it  was  equally  clear  that  if  the 
clergy  accepted  the  pay  of  the  Protestant  government, 
they  could  not  allow  their  flocks  to  pay  repeal  rent.  The 
bill  was  most  fortunately  thrown  out  by  the  house  of 
lords. 

Three  years  passed  away  in  steady  and  strictly  legal 
agitation,  and  the  event  which  may  be  almost  said  to 
have  decided  the  question  of  Catholic  Emancipation, 
was  at  hand.  The  Catholics  had  bound  themselves  to 
oppose  the  return  of  any  person  who  should  not  pledge 
himself  to  oppose  the  duke  of  Wellington's  adminis- 
tration. The  member  for  Clare,  Mr.  Vesey  Fitzgerald, 
was  chosen  President  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  and  of 
necessity  sent  back  to  his  constituency  for  re-election. 
He  was  certainly  in  favor  of  Catholic  Emancipation,  yet 
he  was  a  member  of  the  obnoxious  government.  The 
question  was  debated.  O'Connell  was  disposed  to  offer 
no  opposition  to  his  return,  but  his  decision  was  fortu- 
nately overruled.  Another  candidate  was  proposed,  but 
he  declined,  and,  at  last,  after  a  lengthened  consultation, 
at  O'Connell's  house,  in  Merrion  square,  Dublin,  O'Con- 
nell  himself  came  forward.  He  made  it  clearly  known 
that  he  would  not  take  the  oath  which  members  of  the 
British  Parliament  were  then  obliged  to  swear  ;  but  he 
assured  the  people  that  the  best  means  of  obtaining  an 
alteration  in  that  absurd  compilation  of  bigotry  and  igno- 
rance, was  to  return  a  Catholic  who  would  refuse  to  take 
it. 

O'ConnelPs  friends  preceded  him  to  the  scene  of  action. 
O'Gorman,  Mahon,  and  Steele,  divided  the  work  between 
them  with  admirable  impartiality.  Mahon  undertook  to 
use  his  eloquence,  and  Steele  freely  offered  his  pistols, 
whose  accuracy  of  aim  was  tolerably  well  known,  if  any 
landlord  felt  disposed  to  test  the  matter  in  that  fashion. 
The  well-known  controversialist,  Father  Tom  Maguire, 
followed  them  from  Leitrim,  and  honest  Jack  Lawless 
came  down  from  Belfast,  where  he  edited  the  patriotic 


438 


COMPENDIUM  OP  IRISH  HISTORY. 


Irishman.  All  the  world  knows  that  O'Connell  won  the 
day,  and  won  it  triumphantly. 

The  Duke  of  Wellington  was  converted  by  expediency, 
if  not  by  principle  ;  and  the  Irish  people,  united  in  peace- 
ful and  legal  combination,  had  the  honor  of  conquering 
the  conqueror.  Sir  Robert  Peel  made  no  opposition. 
When  Parliament  met,  in  February,  1829.  The  king's 
speech  recommended  the  suppression  of  the  Catholic  As- 
sociation, and  the  consideration  of  Catholic  disabilities. 

There  was  a  mighty  ferment  through  the  nation. 
Every  possible,  and  a  great  many  impossible  calamities 
were  freely  predicted  as  imminent,  if  Catholics  were 
allowed  the  rights  of  citizens.  The  cause  of  truth  pre- 
vailed, and  the  calamities  did  not  happen.  The  half- 
imbecile  monarch  was  the  greatest  obstacle,  but  even  he 
was  compelled  to  yield  at  last. 

The  bill  passed  the  commons  by  a  majority  of  thirty- 
six,  no  doubt  the  result  of  the  reiterated  statement  of 
Sir  Robert  Peel,  that  it  was  absolutely  necessary  to 
prevent  "  public  calamity."  It  passed  the  lords  by  a 
majority  of  one  hundred  and  four, —  for,  in  the  upper 
house,  the  duke  declared  freely  that  it  was  necessary  to 
prevent  "  civil  war."  Thus  Catholic  Emancipation  was 
obtained. 

The  history  of  O'ConnelFs  refusal  of  the  oath,  and 
subsequent  introduction  into  the  English  Parliament, 
need  not  be  recorded  here.  We  prefer  to  close  the  page 
with  the  culminating  action  of  his  career,  with  the 
undoubted  triumph  of  the  Catholic  cause,  with  the  vic- 
tory, for  which  not  only  Catholics,  but  all  who  deserve 
the  name  of  men,  should  honor  for  ever  the  illustrious 
name  of  Q'Cqnnell. 


THE  END, 


DATE  DUE 

•    it  it 

 Fr.B  ~ 

n  IQRQ 

— m- 

?'?-  '07(1 

n 

SEP 

2  *  2006 

GAYLORD 

PRINTED  IN  U..S. A. 

Ill  33 

BOSTON  COLLEGE 


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Bapst  Library 

Boston  College 

Chestnut  Hill  67,  Mass. 


